The five-month full closure of the Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim begins on Monday. It is the first of dozens of major line renovations. This is intended to improve everything on the railways.
In a few days, the most important construction project of recent years for Deutsche Bahn and its passengers will begin between Frankfurt and Mannheim. 40 routes are to be comprehensively modernized by 2030 and the reliability of the recently unpunctual railway will be improved in the long term.
To start with, the so-called Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim will be completely closed and renovated for five months starting on Monday – with four times the construction volume than usual. Recently there has been at least one disruption on the route every day with restrictions on train traffic. Problems on this section often affect long-distance traffic across Germany and also lead to delays in Hamburg or Stuttgart – so an improvement is urgently needed. Expectations are correspondingly high for the Riedbahn renovation in particular and for the general renovations in general.
What is a general renovation?
The railway infrastructure has been neglected for decades and is outdated and overloaded in many places. Last year, the federal government and the railway therefore came up with a plan to upgrade the network with billions of euros. The main routes are not to be completely renovated “while the wheels are rolling”, i.e. during ongoing operations, as is usually the case, but rather during months of full closure. After that, there must be freedom of construction there for several years.
For the Riedbahn, this means that the line will be completely out of service from July 15 until the timetable change in mid-December. During this time, the railway wants to replace as much as possible that needs to be replaced – and also upgrade the line digitally.
Dozens of other corridors will also be tackled using this model. The next section to be repaired will be the one between Hamburg and Berlin, starting in August 2025. The initially announced closure period of around six months per general renovation cannot be met at this point. As things stand, the route will be closed until April 2026, i.e. for nine months.
What consequences will the Riedbahn renovation have for long-distance traffic?
The Riedbahn is one of the most important rail connections in Germany. More than 300 regional, long-distance and freight trains run there every day, according to the railway company. “In total, every seventh long-distance journey on the DB runs on the tracks between Frankfurt/Main and Mannheim. That’s around 60,000 long-distance passengers a day.” In regional traffic, there are therefore 16,000 passengers every day. The route is also very important for freight traffic because three of eleven trans-European freight traffic corridors are connected to it.
During the closure, around two thirds of the ICE and IC trains in long-distance traffic west and east of the Riedbahn will be diverted to Mannheim via Mainz and Worms (Ludwigsbahn) or via Darmstadt and Heidelberg (Main-Neckar-Bahn). This will extend the travel time for passengers by around half an hour. The remaining third of the trains will be cancelled or will travel to other destinations.
What about regional transport?
All regional trains will be cancelled. Passengers will have to switch to replacement bus services. The railway has bought 150 articulated and intercity buses for this purpose. All vehicles are equipped with toilets, WiFi and USB charging sockets. In addition, a good 400 bus drivers have been hired. In total, there are 13 bus routes, each of which runs every 30 minutes. Because the routes overlap, according to the railway, a bus runs on all sections at least every 15 minutes, and on some sections even every five minutes.
The acceptance of the construction project by the local people depends on the smooth running of the replacement service. At a dress rehearsal at the beginning of the year, some things did not go smoothly. The railway has promised improvements in this area, for example in the training of bus drivers.
What is being done during the Riedbahn renovation?
According to the railway, 140 kilometers of overhead lines, 150 switches, 265,000 sleepers and 120 kilometers of tracks will be installed. New signaling and interlocking technology will also be installed. 20 stations along the route are to be modernized. According to current figures, all of this will cost 1.3 billion euros – significantly more than initially assumed.
Will the train run more punctually after that?
At least that is the hope of the railway. The renovations are intended to gradually make Germany’s aging rail network more resilient and less disruptive. For the time being, however, the closures represent another test of patience for passengers and other rail users.
There is still great skepticism, especially among competitors in freight transport. Among other things, they fear that not all of the necessary construction work can be carried out due to the tight schedules. This cannot be done later either, because construction work on the routes is not allowed for several years. Their association, the freight railways, also expressed doubts about the diversion concepts. Freight trains often have to take detours of hundreds of kilometers during the closures.
Are the railways now only undergoing general renovations?
No, construction will continue beyond this. This is urgently needed given the poor condition of the entire rail network. Some construction work cannot be postponed until a general renovation of the relevant section is due. This also applies to the Hamburg-Berlin route, for example: construction work will take place there for months this year, with considerable restrictions for passengers.
Source: Stern
