Overview
- Deutsche Bahn postponed commissioning of the new electronic interlocking after experts found a software error that blocks essential safety tests.
- Cologne Hauptbahnhof will be closed to long-distance and regional trains from Friday at 21:00 until 24 November, with services routed around the city center.
- Many ICE services will stop at Cologne Ehrenfeld or Messe/Deutz, and passengers can continue by S-Bahn, which is controlled by a different interlocking and remains in operation.
- A second closure will be required to switch to the new system, with timing and duration not yet announced.
- The disruption hits a hub handling about 1,300 trains per day and precedes a five-month renovation of the Cologne–Wuppertal–Hagen corridor starting in February.