Check if your train journey will be impacted by current and future major rail construction projects!
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;
(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 ↔ Berlin
Until June 13th
Due to the renovation of the Hamburg - Berlin route, there will be maximum of 1 x express (ICE) train per hour between the two cities and journey times will be extended by around 45 minutes.
The EC trains on the Hamburg - Berlin ↔ Praha route and the Hamburg - Berlin ↔ Budapest route will be turning around in Berlin and won't be serving Hamburg.
2: 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:
3: 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.
4: At Stuttgart
Work towards the opening of the new main station in Stuttgart will be stepped up in 2026.
Fom June 26th to September 11th inclusive fewer long-distance trains will be able to use Stuttgart Hbf.
The core consequences will be:
5: 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.
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:
8: Berlin
From June 14th to October 1st:
From October 2nd to December 12th:
9: 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.
(1) The Severn Tunnel between Bristol Parkway and Newport
The tunnel will be closed from Saturday May 23rd to Sunday June 8th which will lead to the following alterations:
(42) At Huddersfield
The Trans Pennine Upgrade Plan will be impacting on routes around Huddersfield from Saturday May 30th to Friday June 26th
During this time the usual pattern of long-distance Trans Peninne Express services...
On Monday to Friday the service pattern will be:
On Saturday and Sunday the service pattern will be:
(1): in the Bologna area
Bologna is one of the main hubs of the Italian rail network
On 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 29, 30 June and 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:
On these dates the InterCity trains:
Also on these dates some Regionale (R/RV) trains will ne subject to cancellations, changes, and replacements with buses, including on these routes:
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) Rome / Naples ↔ Bari / Taranto
From 10:30 am on June 10, 2026 to 4:00 pm on June 30, 2026 work towards the completion of the Naples ↔ Bari high-speed route will have the the following impact:
(4) Salerno ↔ Tarranto
Until June 30th due to scheduled maintenance work, train services will be suspended between Battipaglia and Potenza stations and between Metaponto and Potenza Centrale stations
(5) Terni - Foligno - Assisi
Until June 13th the IC trains on the Roma ↔ Terni - Foligno - Ancona route will only be operating between Roma and Terni.
Also from 1 to 6 and from 8 to 13 June the Perugia to Roma IC service will not be stopping at Assisi, Foligno, Spoleto and Terni; And from from June 1 to 5, and from June 7 to 12 the Roma to Perugia IC service will not be stopping at Terni, Spoleto, Foligno and Assisi.
(6) Firenze ↔ Prato
On 1, 3, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 June 2026 , due to scheduled maintenance work at Prato Centrale station, some Regionale trains on these routes
(7) 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 30 May 01:00 to Mon 08 June 05:00 hours, due to engineering works buses replace trains between Dordrecht and Lage Zwaluwe.
This impacts on IC trains which take the Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Dordrecht - Roosendaal - Vlissingen route.
Making connections in Breda will be an alternative to taking the buses.
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;
From Feb 7th to July 10th the services which will be available are:
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:
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:
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.
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