Hamburg–Berlin rail line to reopen after ten months of renovation

Delays and political reactions

The reopening had originally been planned for 1 May. However, because of a harsh winter at the beginning of the year, Deutsche Bahn pushed the date back to 14 June, delaying the renovation by around one and a half months. SPD transport expert Anja Troff-Schaffarzyk told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland: „Bei aller Erleichterung über das Ende der Umleitungen dürfen wir die gravierenden Schwachstellen dieses Mammutprojekts nicht verschweigen“. She added: „Die Bilanz weist Schattenseiten auf, die wir ungeschönt benennen müssen."

Troff-Schaffarzyk also called for future projects to be planned more robustly: „Bauzeitenpläne und Puffer für kritische Infrastrukturen müssten künftig robuster und krisenfester kalkuliert werden". Hamburg's mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) had previously expressed anger about the delay in a letter. Several other minister-presidents also reacted critically to the postponement.

The transport policy spokesperson of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Björn Simon (CDU), called on Deutsche Bahn's management to learn from the delays. Simon said: „Für die kommenden Korridorsanierungen brauchen wir verlässliche Zeitpläne und eine transparente Kommunikation, die Versprechungen gegenüber den Bürgern einhält." Transport politicians from the SPD and CDU jointly called for greater openness from Deutsche Bahn towards the public.

Remaining restrictions

Marcel Drews from the Pro Bahn passenger association criticised the inadequate alternative routes during the construction work. He said: „Einer der großen Fehler war, dass die Anforderung der Umleitungs- und Ausweichstrecken nicht ausreichend bei der Planung berücksichtigt wurde. Es hätte mehr Ausweichmöglichkeiten auf eingleisigen Zugstrecken geben müssen". Pro Bahn interpreted the episode as evidence of structural shortcomings in renovation planning.

The first section of the line between Hamburg and Hagenow Land/Schwerin had already been back in service since 15 May. In the final stage, however, new signalling systems between Hagenow and Berlin-Spandau still have to be commissioned. Stress and acceptance tests are initially limiting maximum speeds, meaning that individual long-distance trains will still take a few minutes longer over the coming weeks.

Discounted tickets as compensation

Smaller restrictions and remaining works persist in some places. The platforms at Bergedorf, Nauen and Falkensee are not yet accessible without barriers; passengers with reduced mobility can use on-call shared taxis to barrier-free stations until the new lifts are commissioned. Rail replacement services will be discontinued, and all regional trains will once again run according to schedule.

As a thank-you to passengers for their patience, Deutsche Bahn is making a contingent of 100,000 discounted tickets available for direct journeys between Hamburg and Berlin. According to the company, the discounted tickets can be booked up to and including Sunday and used for travel until 12 December. The company intends this to cushion the effects of the months-long closure and provide an incentive to return to the rails.