Overview
- No trains run between Cologne, Wuppertal and Hagen from December 26 at 21:00 to January 2 as crews clear embankments and search for unexploded ordnance ahead of the main works, with replacement buses and wide long‑distance reroutings in place.
- Rerouted ICE services via Düsseldorf and Duisburg add about 20–40 minutes, with no long‑distance stops in Wuppertal and Solingen and only limited stops in Hagen; some IC services on the section are canceled.
- Regional services face suspensions or changes on RE4, RE7, RE13, RE49, RB48, S7, S8, S9 and S28, and select trains are diverted over S‑Bahn tracks between Düsseldorf, Wuppertal and Hagen.
- Replacement buses include express and all‑stops options, and journeys such as Wuppertal–Cologne can take roughly 1.5 hours instead of about 34 minutes by train.
- The 65 km corridor will be fully closed again from February 6 to July 10, 2026 to renew tracks, switches and bridges, install noise barriers and modernize stations, in the first application of DB’s Generalsanierung model in North Rhine‑Westphalia at about €800 million.