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From August: The Berlin-Hamburg railway line will be completely closed!
The Hamburg-Berlin railway line will be renovated from August 2025 to April 2026. Replacement services with new buses ensure punctual connections.
From August: The Berlin-Hamburg railway line will be completely closed!
There is great excitement in northern Germany because the comprehensive renovation of the Berlin-Hamburg railway line will begin in a few weeks. From August 1, 2025 to April 30, 2026, the 278-kilometer route, which runs through Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Berlin, will be completely closed. And that's not all: a replacement rail service will be set up for travelers, which will have 208 new buses. As SVZ reports, the ecoVista company has developed a sophisticated concept to get travelers to their destination quickly and comfortably, even during the renovation work.
The new bus fleet, which consists of articulated buses from SOR and solo buses from IVECO, is equipped with modern amenities. Wi-Fi, USB ports and toilets on selected lines ensure that travelers get their money's worth even during the journey. An impressive 86,000 bus kilometers are covered on 28 routes every day, resulting in a total of 23.5 million bus kilometers over the entire renovation period. A remarkable achievement that shows that ecoVista approaches the organization of rail replacement transport with a lot of commitment.
Extensive preparation and quality assurance
The renovation of the railway line is only part of a larger project that also aims to make nationwide investments in infrastructure. According to Tagesschau, the federal government is planning investments totaling 166 billion euros by 2029, with 107 billion euros expected to flow into rail alone. The aim is to revitalize ailing railway lines and motorway bridges in particular.
To ensure that the rail replacement service runs smoothly from the start, ecoVista also relies on experienced subcontractors in the first phase who meet the same high standards. This is done in close cooperation with the responsible authorities: The project's call for tenders required a Europe-wide procedure, so that various selection criteria, such as price and quality, were taken into account. ecoVista was able to make the best offer, as the Bundestag reports.
Long-term solutions for travelers
Anyone who wants to travel from Berlin to Hamburg in the coming months will have to be prepared for changes. “There’s something going on,” you could say, because the renovation of the route is just the tip of the iceberg. The DB is planning a general renovation of over 40 heavily used routes by the mid-2030s. The aim is to sustainably improve the punctuality and reliability of rail transport, even if there may be temporary restrictions and construction sites. Travelers can look forward to modernized train stations, which are part of the renovation program and are expected to include around 100 “train stations of the future” this year.
It remains exciting to see how developments on the rails and roads will develop in the coming months. One thing is certain: preparations are in full swing and those responsible have a good hand in ensuring that travel comfort is not neglected even in times of major construction sites.