Germany is currently undergoing a massive modernisation of its rail infrastructure, a long-overdue initiative which will see over 4,000 kilometres of lines being renovated along 42 corridors. Initially, it was supposed to be very intensive and ambitious, with expectations to complete it by 2030. However, Deutsche Bahn (DB) has now said that some corridors will not be ready before 2036.
The decision is made to “reduce the number of parallel measures per year”, DB said. In other words, grouping such an extraordinary number of projects in a relatively short period of time (five years) would have had a strong negative impact on the industry, as many important arteries would be closed at the same time.
“The original sequence of projects for 2026 and 2027 will remain unchanged”, the company said, as some are already in advanced stages and tenders have already been assigned. The new schedule, thus, will be valid from 2028. The parties involved should be notified by the German ministry of transport in the coming few weeks on the plans for 2028 and 2029, DB specified. In the table below, you can see the new redistribution of projects for 2026, 2027 and 2028.
Learning from the Riedbahn
One of the first and biggest renovation projects included in Germany’s plan was the Riedbahn, linking Frankfurt to Mannheim. Closed between August and December 2024, the full project for the modernisation of this line was not fully completed, as the implementation of ETCS was postponed to the first quarter of 2025. This highlights limitations in terms of resources, as the industry already underlined with DB.
The next big closure coming will concern the Hamburg-Berlin line, which will start in August 2025 and should last until April 2026. Other than domestic services, this closure will have an international impact too, as various logistics operators pointed out. “This closure will affect all services between ports Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven, and the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary”, Kuehne + Nagel said.
The situation concerning Hamburg will be even more complicated because, on top of the renovation project carried out by DB, there will be construction at the port. In August and October, the Hamburg Port Authority will close the railway connecting to the Hamburg Container Terminals, also known as Eurogate, and Burchardkai to build a new highway bridge.