Rail traffic: Riedbahn construction work: start of operations with fewer trains

After the end of construction work on the Riedbahn, the trains on the route between Frankfurt and Mannheim should soon be running again – although there will still be some restrictions when operations start next Sunday. In total, long-distance and regional transport will be available again for around 95 percent of usual passengers from December 15th, Deutsche Bahn announced.

The regional train lines RB 62 between Worms and Biblis and RB 63 between Worms and Bensheim will only start operating again from December 24th. Until then, replacement bus services will continue to apply there.

This also applies to the southern section of the route, where the replacement buses for line S91 are scheduled to run until January 13th. Only then will operations begin on the S-Bahn lines S8 between Biblis and Mannheim and S9 between Groß-Rohrheim and Mannheim, as it was said.

Freight trains initially only run at night

There will be no restrictions at all in long-distance transport when operations start on December 15th. In freight transport, trains would initially only use the route at night. The number of freight trains is to be gradually increased by December 23rd. “From January 13, 2025, all trains will run according to the regular timetable again,” the railway said.

The route was completely closed for five months for the renovation of the Riedbahn. On the approximately 70 kilometer long section, the tracks, switches, overhead lines, signal box technology, platforms and sound insulation were completely renewed. The route was also equipped for the ETCS electronic train control system. All construction work has now been completed.

The Riedbahn is the first of 41 heavily used rail corridors that are to be comprehensively renovated and modernized in this way in the coming years. In this way, the railway wants to gradually get its great unreliability back under control.