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Rail chaos threatens: Berlin-Hamburg route closed for nine months!
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will experience a complete closure of the Berlin-Hamburg railway line from August 2025. Economic impacts and replacement traffic in focus.
Rail chaos threatens: Berlin-Hamburg route closed for nine months!
Starting next August, the railway line between Berlin and Hamburg will be completely closed for nine months, which will have numerous effects on the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region. How BahnBlogStelle reports, Economics Minister Wolfgang Blank fears that West Mecklenburg in particular will suffer from the lockdown.
The main concerns revolve around the provision of adequate replacement transport. Blank calls for clear commitments from Deutsche Bahn for alternative transfer concepts or additional bus connections, as fewer rail replacement buses are to be provided than originally announced due to the planned 173 rail replacement buses. This means that around 30,000 passengers a day will switch to alternative means of transport, while around 230 trains that run on the route every day will no longer be available.
Replacement traffic and timetable changes
How NDR explained, the changes in the timetables are far-reaching. While the ICE line will be completely closed, the direct connection between Schwerin and Berlin will remain, but only via detours. There will also be changes for many other connections: the regional trains on the route will be partially or completely replaced by buses.
The lines RE1, RE4, RE5, RE8, as well as RB14 and RB17/18 are particularly affected. Details can be seen in the fine overview:
| line | Time table change |
|---|---|
| RE1 | Once an hour between Bad Kleinen and Rostock |
| RE4 | Only runs between Bützow and Neubrandenburg |
| RE5 | Detour without stopping in Güstrow |
| RE8 and RB14 | Eliminated, replaced by buses |
| RB17 | Runs every hour from Wismar to Schwerin-Süd, then replacement buses |
| RB18 | Not applicable, RB28 runs twice a day during rush hour |
In total, the replacement service will cover travelers with more than 170 buses, which will cover up to 86,000 kilometers a day. However, travelers are dependent on traffic conditions permitting, as travel times can be noticeably longer, especially on long-distance transport.
Criticism and future outlook
The planned “general renovation light” is criticized by both the Green parliamentary group and the CDU parliamentary group. While the latter insists on a complete renovation or a postponement of the measures, the Greens are calling for more effective solutions to minimize the disruption to passengers. How daily news reported, bottlenecks in the renewal of overhead lines and a lack of skilled workers in the railway industry continue to influence renovation projects. Deutsche Bahn has postponed the original schedule for its corridor renovation by 2030 to 2035.
Overall, the challenge of keeping travelers mobile during the extensive construction work is a key task for the coming months. In fact, many commuters and travelers will have to get creative and perhaps resort to carpooling, long-distance buses or car sharing to accommodate the changes in traffic.