BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – As a result of the cold winter, the comprehensive renovation of the railway line between Hamburg and Berlin is taking significantly longer than planned. “After the last few days, we have to say that we are currently assuming that it will no longer be possible to go into operation on April 30th,” said Gerd-Dietrich Bolte, board member for infrastructure planning and projects at the responsible railway subsidiary DB InfraGo.
It initially remained unclear how long the completion of construction work on the route would be delayed. The railway plans to announce a new schedule on March 13th. “The aim is to find a solution that is equally compatible with travelers and freight transport companies,” said the group. The restrictions for passengers will therefore continue indefinitely.
Restrictions on passenger routes and freight traffic are being extended
Long-distance traffic will continue to be rerouted via Stendal and Uelzen until completion. He currently needs at least 45 minutes longer. Instead of the usual two connections per hour, there will only be one connection during the renovation. The Ludwigslust and Wittenberge stops are completely eliminated.
In regional transport, many connections are canceled or only run on partial routes. An extensive replacement transport concept with buses has been set up for affected commuters. The journey times with the replacement buses are significantly longer. The replacement service will also continue until the renovation is completed, the railway emphasized. Freight traffic has also had to endure long detours since the beginning of August.
Hardest winter in 15 years
“We are experiencing the harshest winter in 15 years in Germany, especially in the north and east,” emphasized Bolte. Work on the route has been behind schedule for six weeks because frost and snow have made underground cable engineering work for the signaling and interlocking systems almost impossible. “This is where we have extreme difficulties and virtually no progress,” it said. “We’ve been watching every week and the weather forecast intently since the beginning of January.”
According to the federal railway, work on the overhead lines is also difficult due to the cold. This should have taken place in January, but this was not possible due to the weather.
Renovation of Hamburg-Hannover also affected
The Hamburg-Berlin railway line has been closed for renovation since the beginning of August 2025 – construction was initially planned to take nine months. The 280 kilometer long route runs through five federal states and is one of the most important commuter routes in Germany with around 30,000 long-distance passengers daily and a total of 470 trains per day. When planning the route, a buffer of two to three weeks was built in, Bolte said. However, this has now clearly been exceeded.
Immediately following the modernization, the Hamburg-Hannover route is on the agenda. This will now also be delayed until the corridor between the Hanseatic city and the capital is finished. However, the delays would not have any impact on further planned route renovations.
General renovations are intended to make the network fit again
The general renovation of the Hamburg-Berlin line is part of a larger initiative: Deutsche Bahn wants to fundamentally modernize more than 40 busy rail corridors by the mid-2030s. In this way, the route network, which is ailing and overloaded in many places, will gradually be made fit again and punctuality will increase.
The so-called Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim began in 2024. Hamburg-Berlin is considered a special challenge because it is significantly longer and more complex than the Riedbahn. As of mid-December, the railway was still on the right track with its renovation. Since the beginning of August, around 165 kilometers of tracks, 241 switches, sound barriers, signals, overhead lines and platforms have been replaced, it was said at the time.
Now the race to catch up begins
With the renewal of the so-called control and safety technology, the most difficult task still lay ahead. Hundreds of kilometers of cables, signals and switch machines have to be replaced or re-laid. According to Deutsche Bahn, a multi-stage testing and acceptance process then follows.
According to InfraGo board member Bolte, the next few weeks will be about catching up. Most recently, the workers were on duty around the clock. Additional teams and fitters should now be deployed to carry out as much work as possible in parallel. “Every day is important,” said Bolte. “We want to stay as close as possible to the planned commissioning.” The passengers hope so too./maa/bf/DP/stw