Overview
- DB has notified the rail sector of potential additional works on some generalsanierung corridors, meaning further closures could occur before the promised five-year construction pause ends.
- The late start-up of new signalling and safety technology is cited as the main driver, with each delayed commissioning expected to bring about a week of fresh travel restrictions, though some longer outages are also being examined.
- DB says routine maintenance, vegetation management and planned Sperrpausen to deliver adjacent new-build or expansion projects will proceed, and it states these plans are being coordinated with the Federal Transport Ministry.
- The modernization program now spans roughly 40 key routes with completion pushed to 2036, and project durations have lengthened compared with initial plans, as seen with the nine-month Hamburg–Berlin closure.
- Routes flagged for potential post-overhaul restrictions include Fulda–Hanau, Koblenz–Mainz and Nürnberg–Regensburg, while DB disputes a reported temporary total closure for Frankfurt–Mannheim, drawing criticism from Allianz pro Schiene and the freight rail association.