Overview
- After a weeklong preparatory shutdown, DB says trains resume on the route Friday night before the extended closure begins in February.
- The 65 km corridor will face alternating full and partial blocks from February 6 to July 10, with about one third fully closed and limited S‑Bahn operation possible for parts of the period.
- ICE will not run between Cologne, Wuppertal and Hagen during the works, with long‑distance trains detouring via Düsseldorf, Duisburg and the Ruhr and journey times extending by roughly 20 to 40 minutes.
- Regional services on roughly ten lines will be curtailed or rerouted, with replacement buses including all‑stops and express options; trips such as Wuppertal–Cologne can stretch to about 90 minutes instead of 34.
- DB estimates about €800 million for the NRW corridor upgrade and flags a busy year network‑wide, including 2026 closures on Oberhausen–Emmerich and significant Marschbahn works with January night suspensions, ESTW commissioning in Niebüll in Q1, and track renewals from October 21 to November 16.