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Deutsche Bahn wants to completely renovate its rail network from 2024. A “high-performance network” is to be created by 2030. Industry experts doubt that the group will be able to stick to this schedule.
There’s a lot coming up for Deutsche Bahn customers in the new year. Passengers and freight transport customers will first feel this on the Frankfurt-Mannheim route, on the so-called Riedbahn: five months of complete closure for comprehensive construction work from mid-July. There will be a foretaste, if you will, in January. The railway closes the route for three weeks for preparatory work. The construction workload is “very demanding”.
A new construction concept is being tried out on the Riedbahn, the railway says: “Everything from a single source”. At the same time, 117 kilometers of track, 140 kilometers of overhead lines, 16 kilometers of noise barriers, 152 switches, 1,200 control and safety control units and 20 train stations will be replaced. All of this is expected to cost 1.3 billion euros.
The Riedbahn as a pilot project
Planned additional travel time for long-distance travelers during the five-month construction period and full closure: 30 minutes. However, this would avoid at least 16 future closures in the next few years, the railway argues. The Riedbahn is currently one of the busiest routes in Germany, with up to 300 trains per day in long-distance, local and freight transport.
The route is therefore considered a pilot project for general renovations in the coming years. The DB wants to renew a total of 40 route sections by 2030, covering a good 4,000 kilometers of route. A further 4,000 kilometers are to be improved through “small and medium-sized measures”. The railway estimates an additional amount of at least 45 billion euros for this.
The goal: fewer disruptions, fewer construction sites for years and, above all, more punctual trains. “The current operating situation is neither acceptable for us nor for travelers and freight transport companies,” said DB Infrastructure Director Berthold Huber. “That’s why we’re fundamentally changing course starting next year and radically renovating routes and stations.” According to the principle of “from a single source”, connections such as Hagen-Wuppertal-Cologne will be renewed, with construction starting in 2026. The route between Lehrte near Hanover and Berlin in 2027.
The Riedbahn – here is a photo from last spring – is the pilot project for the general renovation.
Hamburg-Berlin has been a permanent construction site for almost two years
The route between Hamburg and Berlin, the two largest German cities, will undergo general renovation in 2025. Currently, around 230 freight and passenger trains use the connection every day – with up to 30,000 passengers. New tracks are to be laid on the approximately 280 kilometer long route. Switches, overhead lines, signal box technology and several train stations will be modernized and new overtaking opportunities will be created.
Long-distance travelers and freight transport customers must therefore expect an additional journey time of at least 45 minutes – at least because some trains are being rerouted via Hanover. And: Rail customers will have to be patient between Hamburg and Berlin in 2024. The first switches, tracks and bridges are replaced between August and December. According to the railway, it is not possible to combine the two construction projects. Among other things, because the renovation project is too big.
Test of patience for travelers
Travelers will also need patience on the Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim in 2024. The long-distance trains are being rerouted. In local and regional transport, 150 new buses will be used as replacement services. They are expected to offer more than 1,000 replacement trips per day, every five to 15 minutes. “I’ve even been able to see a bus like this,” says Detlef Neuß from the Pro Bahn passenger association.
The buses made a good impression; they even had a toilet. But the journey certainly takes longer than by train. And then you first have to find replacement transport. So far, the information from the railways has mostly been bad, said Neuß.
Is the railway taking over?
In principle, the general renovation is necessary, says the passenger association. “The infrastructure has been subject to wear and tear for years.” DB Infrastructure Director Huber also sees it that way. But he believes politicians are responsible for this: “A key goal of the railway reform almost 30 years ago was to reduce the burden on the federal budget. That’s why the network was designed for cost efficiency for years.” However, more and more people now want to travel by train, and rail is also crucial for the transport and climate change.
However, industry experts are skeptical as to whether Deutsche Bahn will be able to implement the ambitious construction and diversion concept as planned. There are already too few planners, too few dispatchers, too few construction companies and engineers for such large railway construction sites in Germany.
“At the moment the entire industry is geared towards having a construction volume of 1.5 billion euros,” warns railway and transport expert Christian Böttger from the Berlin University of Applied Sciences. “And if we want to spend five billion on new construction and expansion, then we need a lot more people. And they are already in short supply.”
The punctuality of construction will be shown
The Pro Bahn passenger association is also concerned that financing for the general renovation is not permanently secured. The traffic light coalition’s struggle over the 2024 budget gives a foreshadowing of what could come. However, the railway is relying on the federal government’s announcement that investments at the railway would not be cut.
After all: If the Riedbahn between Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim is the pilot project, then customers will know more by the end of 2024. Can the general renovation work by 2030 – or will the railway also be delayed in construction?