Six Months of Construction on the Berlin Stadtbahn: What Passengers Need to Know

The biggest restrictions affect regional rail services. Between Berlin-Charlottenburg and Ostbahnhof, no regional trains will run during the construction period from June 14 to December 12, 2026. The RE1 and RE7 lines will therefore start and end at Charlottenburg and Ostbahnhof stations. Regional and long-distance services will not be able to use the route during this time.

Impact on regional services

Several lines will be diverted or rerouted. The RE2 between Hennigsdorf and Cottbus will be diverted from Spandau via Gesundbrunnen and Ostkreuz. The Eurocity trains to and from Poland will start and end at Gesundbrunnen station via Lichtenberg. In long-distance services, ICE trains to and from Düsseldorf and Cologne will run from Hauptbahnhof via Südkreuz. The Intercity trains between Dresden and Rostock via Berlin will be diverted via Ostkreuz. For the connection between Berlin and Hamburg, the stop at Spandau will be cancelled.

From October 2, with the start of the new construction phase, further route changes will take effect. The RB21 will receive a completely new routing and will run from Priort via Potsdam, Berlin-Charlottenburg, and Spandau on to Hennigsdorf. Until October 1, the RB21 will run from Potsdam via Spandau to Charlottenburg and no longer to Gesundbrunnen. The RB10 will be completely cancelled until October 1, with the exception of a few nighttime services. From October 2, the line will run between Nauen and Rangsdorf.

Changes from October 2

Several regional connections will also be cancelled from October. From October 2, the RE4 between Berlin-Spandau and Stendal Hbf will be cancelled, as will the RB14 between Spandau and Berlin Ostbahnhof. The RE6 will run unchanged until October 1, but will be cancelled from October 2 between Hennigsdorf and Berlin-Charlottenburg. The modified RB21 will serve as a replacement.

Until October 1, a special arrangement applies for commuters: the RE4 and the RB14 will be coupled through at Berlin-Spandau; the RE4 trains coming from Berlin Hbf will therefore change their line number to RB14 at Berlin-Spandau and continue to Nauen. No transfer is required.

The S-Bahn is less affected, according to the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg. According to the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg, S-Bahn services are not affected except for three weekends and a few evenings; the S-Bahn trains will run as usual. The S3, S5, S7, S75, and S9 lines will run on the Stadtbahn at their regular frequency between Sunday and December 12. On three weekends, however, the route between Zoologischer Garten and Friedrichstraße will be interrupted: from June 26 to 29, from July 24 to 27, and from July 31 to August 3. The interruptions will each apply from Friday evening at 10:00 p.m. until the night of Monday.

S-Bahn and airport connection

For these closures, the railway will set up a replacement service with two bus lines: S7A between Friedrichstraße and Zoologischer Garten, and S7B between Hauptbahnhof and Zoologischer Garten. The connection to BER airport is ensured during the construction work, the railway emphasized. The Flughafenexpress FEX usually departs from a platform in the underground level of Hauptbahnhof — via Südkreuz to BER.

Further renovation Berlin–Lehrte from October

Additional burdens are expected for passengers from October. For passengers heading to North Rhine-Westphalia, the situation will become even more difficult from October with the start of the general renovation of the Berlin-Lehrte line. From October, the route between Berlin and Lehrte (connection toward Hannover) will be extensively renovated. Details of the diversion concept for traffic are not yet known.