Construction work has begun on the Berlin–Hannover railway line

Construction work on the railway line between Berlin and Hanover has begun as planned. The route has been closed since 5 a.m., as a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn told ZEIT. Trains are therefore being rerouted and replacement services are in use.

According to the spokesman, the last trains left the route on Friday night. Before construction work could begin, the overhead lines had to be switched off.

The route will remain closed for the next 14 months and will be extensively renovated. By December 2027, the railway wants to replace more than 200 switches, around 350 kilometers of tracks and 100 kilometers of overhead lines. The railway announced that 25 stations along the route will also be modernized. The reason for the long closure is the renewal of more than 50 kilometers of solid concrete road around Stendal.

Diversions via Braunschweig and Magdeburg

During this time, all long-distance trains will be rerouted via Braunschweig and Magdeburg and will take around 80 minutes longer. This also affects all connections between the capital and North Rhine-Westphalia. If you want to drive from Berlin to Düsseldorf, you will now have to travel at least five and a half hours.

There are special restrictions for passengers to and from Wolfsburg, where no long-distance trains will stop at least until the end of the year. Stendal is also no longer an ICE stop. It is still unclear whether this will remain the case in 2027.

Magdeburg will receive three additional ICE connections in the direction of Hanover and North Rhine-Westphalia as well as to and from Berlin.

Construction work on an alternative route

Regional transport is also affected - especially in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. According to its own statements, the railway wants to provide a “reliable basic offer”. Regional trains run between Nauen and Stendal via Wittenberge. However, the stops in between, such as Rathenow, can only be reached via replacement buses. Anyone who has to continue from Stendal to Wolfsburg also depends on the buses. The railway provides information about the individual lines and cycle times on its website.

Actually, from the timetable change in December of this year, the long-distance trains were supposed to run on the Lehrter Stammbahn, which runs parallel to the renovation route. But the electrification of this route is taking significantly longer than planned and will not be completed until December 2027.