Overview
- The suspension runs from Friday, 14 November at 21:00 to Monday, 24 November at 05:00 to disconnect the old interlocking and connect and test the new system.
- A full station closure is planned for the night of 19 to 20 November, while S‑Bahn lines otherwise operate mostly as normal.
- Many ICE services will stop at Köln‑Ehrenfeld or Köln Messe/Deutz instead of the main station, and some long‑distance trains will bypass Cologne.
- Regional routes will be diverted, including RE1 (Aachen–Hamm) and RE5 (Wesel–Koblenz), with replacement buses provided on some nights.
- Deutsche Bahn says the upgrade will enable faster incident response and require fewer dispatchers after roughly €360 million in investments, with staff training on simulators before services restart.