Busiest railway routes closed. News. One of Germany’s busiest railways will close for five months as the country works on fixing its often disrupted network.
The 70-kilometer railway between Frankfurt and Mannheim will remain closed until December 14 as the state-owned railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, upgrades infrastructure and overhauls tracks and stations.
More than 300 trains per day use this route, which is a key north-south connection to Switzerland and often faces delays. Buses will replace all regional trains during the closure, while long-distance trips will use slower routes.
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The €1.3 billion plan is part of a broader project to modernize 40 railway routes by 2030. Deutsche Bahn aims to improve reliability in a network that has faced criticism recently, especially during Germany’s hosting of the European Football Championships.
Football fans were frustrated with the unreliable routes. Deutsche Bahn said the tournament led to “mixed” railway results, explaining that the system was pushed to its limits by outdated and overloaded infrastructure. Transport Minister Volker Wissing said the overhaul was delayed until after the football tournament to avoid further disruption.
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“I inherited a dilapidated railway infrastructure that had not seen enough investment for decades,” Wissing, who became transport minister at the end of 2021, told Deutschlandfunk radio. “We are going to invest enormous sums, historic sums, in the railway.”