A Summary of Major Works on the Railway Lines

The vast majority of the work to improve railway lines, which impacts on the frequency and journey times info as per the journey guides, is completed over one Sat/Sun period.
So if you can't find a usual route or a train departure online, it can be worth having a look at the links to the national construction work, which you will find below.
You may then have to translate what you'll find, but it can be worth the effort to discover what's occurring and to glean whether you'll need to take a bus for part of the journey, or whether trains are being diverted.
Alterations to the usual service are often not particularly obvious when looking up the journey on a ticket booking service.

The information included below is a guide to the the more extensive construction projects which are impacting on train services for a week or more.
Therefore these are the projects which are good to be aware of if you're planning a rail pass itinerary and want to avoid any hassle, or are wondering why a typical connection isn't available on multiple dates.

Also worth knowing is that many major construction work projects, which require timetable alterations, aren't confirmed until around two months ahead.

These are the upcoming rail construction projects which;

• last more than a weekend, so also impact on Monday to Friday travel
• affect long-distance express trains
• result in trains being diverted, with longer journey times (which impacts on connections)
• Or, are being substituted by buses for part of the journey.

(1) Due to construction work, no long distance-trains can operate between Wien Hbf and Flughafen Wien Bahnhof - the station at Vienna Airport, from 10/07/2026 (09:00am) through 27/07/2026 (07:00am).
There will be a replacement bus service

(2) Due to construction work no trains can operate between Attnang-Puchheim Bahnhof and Stainach-Irdning Bahnhof from 11/07/2026 through 02/08/2026.
These trains call at the station for Hallstat
A rail replacement bus service is being arranged.

(3) Due to construction work, no long distance-trains can operate between Bruck/Mur Bahnhof and Graz Hbf from 13/09/2026 (08:00pm) through 29/09/2026 (04:00am).

For much of 2026 there will be a series of closures and alterations north of Aarhus, due to the project to electrify the railway between Aarhus and Aalborg.

Most significantly from Tuesday, June 9th until Sunday, July 26th, the route between Odense and Fredericia will be restricted with regional trains replaced by buses.

Though the IC and Lyn services between the two cities will still be available.

1: Hamburg ↔ Hannover
The enhancement project on the Hamburg <> Berlin was supposed to finish on April 30th, so from May 1st to July 10th, 2026 the work is transferred to the Hamburg <> Hannover route.
The core consequences will be:

• No long-distance trains will be calling in Celle, Uelzen, Lüneburg, Verden and Nienburg
• The ICE trains on the Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) / Wurzburg routes will be diverted between Hannover and Hamburg extending journey times by 45 minutes
• There will be no IC or ICE trains between Hannover and Bremen during this time.

2: Koln/Cologne ↔ Wuppertal

From February 6 (9 p.m.) to July 10, 2026 (9 p.m.) this route between Solingen and Wuppertal is closed due to reconstruction.
It is used by hourly ICE trains taking a Koln/Cologne - Solingen - Wuppertal - Hagen - Hamm - Hannover - Berlin route, hence during these dates this service will be replaced by ICE trains taking a Hagen <> Berlin route.
Bus connections will be available between Hagen and Wuppertal.

The ICE trains on the other hourly Koln/Cologne <> Berlin route via Dusseldorf and Essen will be unaffected, but the faster 'Sprinter' services between Koln/Cologne and Berlin will be temporarily withdrawn.

3: At Stuttgart
Work towards the opening of the new main station in Stuttgart will be stepped up in 2026.

From June 26th to September 11th inclusive fewer long-distance trains will be able to use Stuttgart Hbf.
The core consequences will be:

• Only one ICE train per hour between Stuttgart and both Mannheim (routes to the north) and Munich (routes to the south)
• Trains to/from Austria will call at Essingen/Neckar station instead of at Stuttgart Hbf
• There will be no direct trains at all between Stuttgart and Heidelberg, a connection will be required at Vaihingen (Enz)
• Therefore the IC and ICE trains which travel via Heidelberg and typically terminate at Stuttgart, will be terminating at Heidelberg
• The IC Trains between Stuttgart and Zurich will be beginning and ending their journeys at Stuttgart-Vaihingen station.

4: Bonn ↔ Mainz

From July 10 (9 PM) to December 12, 2026 (11:59 PM) fewer trains than usual will be able to use the Koln - Bonn - Koblenz - Bingen - Mainz route.
A maximum of one long-distance train per hour will be available.

• The IC trains on the Emden - Rheine - Münster(West) - Gelsenkirchen - Duisburg - Dusseldorf - Koln - Bonn - Koblenz route will only be operating Emden ↔ Koln.
• The ICE trains on the Wiesbaden - Mainz - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Dresden route will be turned around at Frankfurt (Main)
• The ICE trains which typically take a Koblenz - Bonn - Koln ↔ Berlin route won't be running south of Koln.

It seems that the work is being carried out on the parallel route on the east bank of the Rhine, with a diversion of freight trains etc to the west bank route through Bonn, Koblenz and Bingen - leading to the reduction of passenger train services on the west bank route.

The long -distance Regional passenger services which take the east bank are being more drastically impacted:

• The RE8 trains on the Monchengladbach - Koln - Troisdorf - Koblenz route are being replaced by buses between Troisdorf and Koblenz
• The RB10 trains on the Frankfurt (Main) - Wiesbaden - Rudesheim - Koblenz route are being replaced by buses between Wiesbaden and Koblenz.
  As a consequence locations on the east bank of the Rhine between Troisdorf and Wiesbaden including Bad Honningen, Rheinbrohl, Leutesdorf, Neuwied, Vallendar, Braubach, Osterpai, Lorch and Rudesheim will have no rail service from July 10 (9 PM) to December 12, 2026 (11:59 PM).

5: Berlin

From June 14th to October 1st:

• ICE trains won't be using Berlin Ost
• The trains between Berlin and Poland will be departing from and arriving at Berlin-Gesundbrunnen instead of Berlin Hbf and won't be calling at Berlin Ost.

From October 2nd to December 12th:

• The ICE trains on the Berlin <> Koln route will be diverted on to a longer route between Berlin and Hannover, which will extend journey times by 80 mins; These trains also won't be using Berlin Ost and Berlin-Spandau stations.
• The ICE trains which take a Berlin <> Frankfurt (Main) and beyond route via Kassel, will be diverted on to an alternative route via Erfurt; These trains also won't be using Berlin Ost and Berlin-Spandau stations.
• The trains between Berlin and Poland will be departing from and arriving at Berlin-Gesundbrunnen instead of Berlin Hbf and won't be calling at Berlin Ost.

6: Munchen <> Nurnberg

From October 30 (7 a.m.) to December 12, 2026 (11:59 p.m.) the high-speed line between Ingolstadt and Nurnberg will be closed for renewal.
As a consequence a maximum of two trains per hour will be travelling between Munchen <> Nurnberg and with journey times extended by around 30 mins.

From Monday 06 July 2026 to Sunday 02 August 2026 works is closing the route between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, which is impacting on the direct London to South Wales route.

The two primary consequences are;

(1) The trains which typically takes a London - Reading -Swindon - Bristol Parkway - Newport - Cardiff - Swansea - ( Carmarthen)

• Won't be operating more than hourly
• Will be diverted to call at Bristol Temple Meads (where they will reverse)
• Will have journey times to/from South Wales extended by around 20 to 25 mins
• Most trains will be make an additional call at Didcot Parkway

(2) The hourly trains which typically take a London - Reading - Didcot - Swindon - Bristol Parkway - Newport - Cardiff will either be cancelled or only operating between London and Swindon.

(1): in the Bologna area

Bologna is one of the main hubs of the Italian rail network

On 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 July work on the lines around Bologna is having the following impact.

Some Frecciarossa trains are subject to cancellations and changes on these routes:

• Sibari/Naples/Rome ↔ Brescia/Bolzano,
• Turin/Milan ↔ Bari/Lecce
• Venice ↔ Rome/Naples/Reggio Calabria/Lecce
  Note that trains on the Turin/Milan ↔ Rome/Naples/Reggio Calabria route are seemingly unaffected.

On these dates the InterCity trains:

• 580 Terni ↔ Milan Central
• 584 Trieste Centrale ↔ Rome Termini
• 603 Milan Central↔ Lecce,
• 604 Pescara ↔ Milan Central
• 605 Milan Central ↔ Lecce
• 606 Bari ↔ Milan Central
• 607 Milan P. Garibaldi ↔ Lecce
• 609 Milan Central ↔ Lecce
  are partially cancelled or rerouted and won't be calling at Modena, Reggio Emilia, Parma, Fidenza, Piacenza, Lodi, and Milan Rogoredo.

Also on these dates some Regionale (R/RV) trains will ne subject to cancellations, changes, and replacements with buses, including on these routes:

• Prato ↔ Bologna
• Venice/Rovigo/Ferrara ↔ Bologna Milan/Piacenza/Voghera
• Milan/Piacenza/Voghera ↔ Bologna/Rimini/Ancona
• Parma ↔ Bologna
• Bologna ↔ Ravenna/Rimini
• Ravenna ↔ Ferrara
• Ravenna ↔ Rimini
• Brennero/Verona ↔ Bologna
• Modena ↔ Mantua
• Parma ↔ Brescia

More info is available on the Trenitalia website.

(2) Rome↔ Naples by Regionale trains

From June 1st to July 3rd 2026 the Regionale (R/RV) trains on the Naples Central ↔ Cancello – Caserta and Naples Campi Flegrei ↔ Caserta routes are being cancelled between Naples and Cancello/Caserta and replaced with buses.
Also Regionale trains on the Rome Tiburtina/Rome Termini ↔ Naples Central and Naples ↔ Vairano/Cassino routes are undergoing route changes via Aversa. A replacement bus service is available.
Regional trains from Piedimonte Matese to Naples Central Station have been cancelled.

(3) Milan ↔ Genoa

From 20 July to 28 August traffic is suspended on the Pavia – Voghera and Pavia – Pinarolo Po routes due to bridge reconstruction works.
The route is typically taken by all trains which travel between Milano and Genoa / Genova.
Trenitalia has published details of how the Regionale (R and RV) trains will be impacted.
Though a question mark hovers over the fate of the IC and FR trains which typically connect Milano with destinations beyond Genova including Albenga, Sanremo, Ventimiglia, La Spezia, Pisa and Sestri Levante.

From Sat 11 July 01:00 to Mon 20 July 02:00 hours buses replace trains between Eindhoven and Venlo.

1: Madrid ↔ Barcelona

Work on the high speed route between Guadalajara and Calatayud will lead to an increase in journey times of around 25 mins.
Some of the services on the route are being cancelled which is particularly impacting on early and late departures.

2: The Torre del Oro service

The status of this train which takes a Barcelona - Valencia - Albacete - Alcazar de San Jaen - Linares-Bazia - Cordoba - Sevilla - Cadiz route is questionable this summer.
The European Rail Timetable has a note that work on the line between Linares-Bazia and Cordoba is resulting in a bus being substituted between those two locations, but having looked up journeys until September, tickets aren't being sold by Renfe for travel by the Torre del Oro.
Instead it is only selling tickets for indirect journeys to/from Albacete and Alcazar de San Jaen.

These are the upcoming major works on the railway lines, that will be impacting on international railway routes over sustained periods of time.

From February 7th 2026 until December 12th 2026, Deutsche Bahn will be enhancing the railway in south-east Germany which links Nuremberg to Passau via Regensburg.
Hence during this time these ICE routes won't be available;

• Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Wurzburg - Nuremberg - Regensburg - Passau ↔ Wels- Linz - Vienna
• Berlin - Halle - Erfurt - Nuremberg - Regensburg - Passau ↔ Wels - Linz - Vienna; this service will be switched to a Berlin - Halle - Leipzig - Erfurt - Nuremberg - Munich - Kufstein - Worgl - Innsbruck route.

From Feb 7th to July 10th the services which will be available are:

• One ICE train per day taking a Munich - Regensburg - Passau ↔ Wels - Linz - Vienna route.
• One ICE train per day which will take a Frankfurt (Main) - Wurzburg - Nuremberg - Ingolstadt - Regensburg - Passau ↔ Wels Linz - Vienna route.
• One ICE train per day which will take a - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz Frankfurt Airport - Frankfurt (Main) - Wurzburg - Nuremberg - Ingolstadt - Regensburg - Passau ↔ Wels Linz - Vienna route.
• One ICE train per day which will take a - Dortmund - Essen - Dusseldorf - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz - Mainz Frankfurt Airport - Frankfurt (Main) - Wurzburg - Nuremberg - Ingolstadt - Regensburg - Passau ↔ Wels Linz - Vienna route.

This is around half of the usual service.
Note that trains travelling via Nurnberg will be diverted on to a longer route via Ingolstadt.

From July 11th to December 12th the services which will be available are:

• One ICE train per day taking a Cologne - Frankfurt Airport - Frankfurt (Main) - Wurzburg - Nuremberg - Regensburg route
• One ICE train per day taking a Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Wurzburg - Nuremberg - Regensburg route
• 3 x EC trains per day taking a Munich - Simbach ↔ Wels - Linz - Vienna route.
• 2 x ICE trains per day taking a Munich - Regensburg - Passau ↔ Wels - Linz - Vienna route

The idea being that travellers who want to travel between Germany and the route via Wels and Linz to / from Wien can make connections at the main station in Munich.
These ICE and EC trains on the Munich ↔ - Linz - Vienna routes will be in addition to the usual service of RJX trains which depart in every other hour

The Nightjet trains on the Amsterdam ↔ Vienna and Hamburg ↔ Vienna routes will still be available, but will be diverted.

From 08:30 on June 14th 2026, until 23:59 on October 14th 2026, trains will be unable to take the usual main cross border rfailway between Austria and Switzerland; the Sargans - Buchs ↔ Feldkirch route.
Therefore from June 14th to Oct 14th inclusive, a bus replacement service will be operating Sargans ↔ Feldkirch.

This will have the following impacts on rail services during this time:

• The number of direct Railjet (RJX) services on the Zurich - Buchs ↔ Feldkirch - Innsbruck - Salzburg - Linz - Wien / Vienna route will be reduced.
• Westbound departures from Zurich HB station will be at, 06:36 (EC) train to Innsbruck; and RJX trains to Wien will depart at 08:32, 10:32 and 14:32.
• Eastbound departures from Wien Hbf will be at 12:56 and 16:56, with a train beginning its journey in Linz at 05:30; Departures from Salzburg Hbf will be at 06:56, 12:56 and 16:56.
• An EC train will depart Innsbruck for Zurich at 17:16; and the Railjet trains to Zurich will depart from Innsbruck at 09:16, 13:16 and 15:16.
• The trains travelling between Zurich and Austria will be diverted on to a different route and will be calling at Zurich Flughafen / Airport, Winterthur, St Gallen and Bregenz, instead of at Sargans and Buchs.
• As a result of the diversion, journey times from and to Zurich will be extended by around 80 minutes.
• The daily Railjet (RJX ) train which typically takes a Zurich - Buchs ↔ Feldkirch - Innsbruck - Salzburg - Linz - Wien / Vienna - Budapest route, will be diverted to travel to and from Bregenz instead of Zurich.
• The daily Railjet (RJX ) train which typically takes a Zurich - Buchs ↔ Feldkirch - Innsbruck - Salzburg - Linz - Wien / Vienna - Bratislava route will be beginning and finishing its journey in Feldkirch.
• The daily 'Transalpin' service which typically takes a Zurich - Buchs ↔ Feldkirch - Innsbruck - Zell-am-See - Radstadt - Leoben - Graz route will be beginning and finishing its journey in Innsbruck.
• Timings of the night trains between Zurich and Budapest, Graz, Wien and Zagreb will be altered.

From June 7th until the close of July 26th EC trains won't be able to travel between Domodossola and Milan:

This will imapct on these routes

(1) Basel - Bern - Thun - Spiez - Visp - Brig ↔ Domodossola - Stresa - Milan
(2) Geneva - Lausanne - Sion - Brig ↔ Domodossola - Stresa - Milan

Passengers travelling between Domodossola and Milano Centrale will have to use replacement bus services.
There will also be express available on a Geneve - Milano route.

From July 27 to August to September 3rd 2026 the regional Tilo train service on the hourly Locano - Lugano - Chiasso ↔ Como - Milano route will be having to turn around in Como so won't be serving Milano.

From August 24h to September 3rd 2026 the route between Como and Milano will be completely closed, so the EC trains on the routes between both Zurich and Luzern and Milano will also be unable to arrive at and depart from Milano.

From October 2nd to December 12th 2026 the trains on this route will be impacted by works on the line between Hannover and Berlin.
Instead of trains every two hours on a Amsterdam - Amersfoort - Deventer - Osnabruck - Hannover - Berlin, there will be trains every four hours between Amsterdam and Hannover, with only two of these trains in each direction per day travelling beyond Hannover from / to Berlin.

On Mondays only from March 16 (8:50 a.m.) to December 7, 2026 (6:50 p.m.) buses will replace trains between Dresden Hbf and Usti nad Labem.
As a consequence on these Mondays, the service along the (Copenhagen) Hamburg - Berlin - Dresden - Decin - Praha - Brno - Budapest / Wien will be split, with trains operating Copenhagen) Hamburg - Berlin ↔ Dresden and Decin ↔ Praha - Brno - Budapest / Wien, with the stop in Bad Schandau being omitted.

Due to construction work in Italy no long-distance trains can operate between Villach Hbf and Udine from 22/08/2026 through 20/09/2026.
A rail replacement bus service is being arranged.

The Nightjet trains on the Vienna and Munich ↔ Rome and Venice routes will be diverted.

Due to construction work no long-distance trains can operate between Graz Hbf and Szentgotthárd from 08/08/2026 through 23/08/2026.
A rail replacement bus service is being arranged.
This will impact the trains which take a Graz - Szentgotthárd - Budapest route.