Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway company, has announced an extension to the timeline for the comprehensive renovation of key rail lines, now projected to be completed by 2036. This adjustment, outlined in the recent coalition agreement, aligns the refurbishment schedule with the lifespan of a dedicated special fund. The final decisions regarding the sequencing of these corridor upgrades until 2036 will be determined by the federal government.
The original plan envisioned completion of all major line renovations by 2031, a date subsequently revised to 2035. To minimize disruption, the order of projects initially scheduled for 2026 and 2027 will remain largely unchanged. Contracts with industry partners have already been substantially awarded and detailed rerouting strategies have been extensively discussed with rail operators, with corresponding timetables currently being finalized.
Renovation work is slated for the Hagen-Wuppertal-Köln, Nürnberg-Regensburg, Obertraubling-Passau and Troisdorf-Wiesbaden routes in 2026. The following year will focus on the Rosenheim-Salzburg, Lehrte-Berlin, Bremerhaven-Bremen and Fulda-Hanau corridors, with an equivalent scale of upgrades as planned for 2026. The Lübeck-Hamburg and Frankfurt-Heidelberg corridor renovations will be shifted to subsequent years.
A revised timetable, developed jointly with rail operators, industry associations and representatives from the federal states, is expected to take effect from 2028. This new schedule aims to reduce the number of simultaneous renovation projects underway annually, a change reflecting concerns from the construction sector regarding limited resources.
Proposed for 2028 are renovations for the Köln-Mainz, München-Rosenheim, Hagen-Unna-Hamm and Lübeck-Hamburg corridors. The railway company will be coordinating the existing 2026 plans and the adjusted project sequence from 2027 onwards with the Federal Ministry of Transport in the coming weeks. The ultimate goal is to formally inform rail operators and other relevant parties by mid-August regarding the updated plans for 2028 and any capacity restrictions in the rail network resulting from construction work in 2029, in compliance with European regulations.