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Travel News A Summary of Major Maintenance and Construction Projects
The current European major railway works that will be impacting on rail services

A Summary of Major Maintenance and Construction Projects

Check if your train journey will be impacted by current and future major rail construction projects!

| Last Updated: 18 days ago
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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.

Upcoming major construction works by country

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.

Austria:

1: Bischofshofen ↔ Stainach-Irdning

Due to construction work, some long-distance trains will not be able to run between Stainach-Irdning and Bischofshofen from September 8, 2025 (4:30 a.m.) to October 6, 2025 (4:30 a.m.).
Rail replacement buses will be in place for the affected day trains - and night trains will be rerouted.
Due to the construction work, there may be some restrictions on booking seat reservations.
The route is taken by the EC and IC trains which typically travel between Graz and both Innsbruck / Salzburg.

2: Innsbruck ↔ Feldkirch

Due to construction work, no long-distance trains will run between Ötztal (west of Innsbruck) and Bludenz (east of Feldkirch) from October 6, 2025 , to November 3, 2025.
This route is used by all long-distance trains which typically travel between Innsbruck and both Bregenz and Zurich.
A rail replacement bus service will be provided.
Night trains will be rerouted.
Due to the construction work, there may be some restrictions on seat reservations.

3: Salzburg ↔ Kufstein

Due to construction work by Deutsche Bahn, some long-distance trains will not run between Salzburg Central Station and Kufstein Station from November 14, 2025 (9:00 p.m.) to November 19, 2025 (5:00 a.m.).
Rail replacement bus services will be provided. Some long-distance trains will have their schedules changed.
Night trains will be rerouted.

The work is being carried out by DB because between Salzburg and Kufstein, the trains on the Wien - Linz - Salzburg ↔ Kufstein - Worgl Innsbruck - Feldkirch - Bregenz / Zurich route, travel on a route through southern Germany.

France:

(1) Every weekend from August 30th to October 5th the Intercités trains on the Paris <> Clermont-Ferrand route will be using Gare De Lyon instead of Bercy station.

(2) Until January 26th approximately one third / 33% of the Intercités trains on the Paris - Brive - Limoges - Toulouse route have been temporarily taken off the timetable due to track reconstruction work.

(3) On Mondays to Fridays from August 18th to October 19th the trains on the Paris Austerlitz - Les Aubrais - Tours won't be available for most of the day.
No departures from Paris Austerlitz direct to Tours between 07:29 and 17:22.
No departures from Tours direct to Paris Austerlitz between 06:12 and 17:12.

Germany (long-distance services):

1: Berlin ↔ Rostock ↔ Warnemünde
Work on the main route between Berlin and the north is having the following impact.
From April 5th to November 29th, all trains between Berlin and Warnemünde will only operate from/to Rostock Central Station, alternative local transport service will be provide between Rostock and Warnemünde.

2: Hamburg ↔ Berlin
From Aug 1st 2025 to April 30th 2026
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.

3: Kassel ↔ Frankfurt (Main via Marburg
August 22 (6 a.m.) to September 15, 2025 (4 a.m.)
The ICE trains will typically take a Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel <> Marburg (Lahn) - Gießen <> Frankfurt (Main) - Darmstadt - Heidelberg - Stuttgart route will be diverted between Kassel and Frankfurt, so won't be calling in Marburg (Lahn) and Gießen.
They also will only be travelling between Hamburg and Frankfurt.
erg.

4 Berlin ↔ Erfurt
From September 24 (midnight) to December 13, 2025 (midnight) construction work will be taking place at multiple locations between these two locations.
As a consequence between these dates:

  • Trains will be diverted between Erfurt / Leipzig and Berlin, leading to extended journey times of between 45 and 60 minutes.
  • Due to the diversion, trains between Erfurt / Leipzig and Berlin won't be calling in Südkreuz or Lutherstadt Wittenberg
  • All ICE trains which typically take the Frankfurt - Erfurt - Berlin route will be cancelled, leaving Frankfurt - Kassel - Berlin as the only service between Frankfurt (Main) and Berlin
  • At least an hourly service will still be available on the Munich - Nuremberg - Erfurt - (Leipzig) - Berlin route.

4 Nurnberg ↔ Ingolstadt - Munchen / Munich

From October 6 (4 a.m.) to October 17, 2025 (9 p.m.) the railway between Ingolstadt and Munchen / Munich is being renewed.
The route is taken by the ICE trains which travel between Nurnberg and Munchen / Munich.

The major service alterations during this time are:

  • On the Hamburg - Würzburg - Munich route, direct connections will continue to operate at least every two hours instead of the regular hourly service, with a journey time increase of around 35 minutes.
  • On the Berlin-Erfurt-Munich route, fast direct connections to Berlin will be offered every two hours until October 12. In the opposite direction to Munich, hourly direct connections will be offered, with travel times increased by approximately 35 minutes. Starting October 13, fast direct connections to Berlin will be offered every hour. In the opposite direction to Munich, direct connections will be offered at least every hour, with travel times increased by approximately 35 minutes.
  • On the North Rhine-Westphalia - Frankfurt - Munich route, approximately two-thirds of the direct connections towards Munich are still being offered, with a travel time increase of approximately 35 minutes. In the opposite direction to North Rhine-Westphalia, trains are running without restrictions.

Great Britain:

1: at Huddersfield

As a consequence of the work to upgrade the TransPennine route between Leeds and Manchester, no trains will be calling at Huddersfield station from Saturday 30 August 2025 to Sunday 28 September 2025.

The Trans Pennine Express (TPE) trains on these routes:

(1) Liverpool Lime Street - Manchester Victoria - Huddersfield - Leeds - York - Darlington - Durham - Newcastle
(2) Manchester Airport - Manchester Piccadilly - Manchester Oxford Road - Manchester Victoria - Huddersfield - Leeds - York - Middlesbrough - Redcar
(3) Liverpool Lime Street - Manchester Victoria - Huddersfield - Leeds - Hull
(4) Manchester Piccadilly - Huddersfield - Leeds - York
(5) Manchester Victoria - Huddersfield - Leeds - York - Scarborough

will all be calling in Brighouse instead of Huddersfield, with replacement buses operating between Brighouse and Huddersfield.

Train operator Northern will be temporarily removing all direct trains between Huddersfield and Bradford and trains from Sheffield will be turning around in Penistone.

2: The Reading <> Gatwick Airport route

From Monday 15 September 2025 to Saturday 27 September 2025
A half hourly train service will operate between Reading and Guildford.
Buses will operate between Guildford and Gatwick Airport.

3: at Gloucester

From Saturday 27 September to Sunday 5 October engineering work is taking place between Yate / Kemble and Gloucester, closing all lines, as a result no trains will call at Gloucester.

Certain services will be impacted over a wider area between these dates and the key changes can be summarised as:

  • Buses (operated by Transport for Wales) will replace trains between Lydney and Gloucester / Cheltenham Spa.
  • On Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 September and Saturday October 4th and Sunday October 5th, buses will replace trains on these routes Kemble ↔ Gloucester / Cheltenham Spa and Bristol Parkway ↔ Gloucester and Gloucester ↔ Cheltenham Spa - Worcester.

4: Blaenau Ffestiniog ↔ Llandudno Junction

From Monday 29 September to Sunday 26 October buses replace trains between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llandudno Junction.

5: Inverness ↔ Kyle of Lochalsh

From Monday 20 October 2025 to Sunday 09 November 2025, the railway to the Kyle of Lochalsh is being extensively renewed.
As a consequence:

  • An amended train service will operate between Inverness and Dingwall only calling Beauly, Muir of Ord and Conon Bridge.
  • Buses also replace trains between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh calling all stations to Stromeferry, then Kyle of Lochalsh.
  • A minibus service will operate between Stromeferry and Kyle of Lochalsh, calling Duncraig, Plockton and Duirinish.

Italy

1: Until December the Bressanone/Brixen ↔ Lienz route is closed between Bressanone/Brixen and Brunico/Bruneck due to reconstruction work
Bressanone/Brixen is on the Innsbruck - Bolzano - Trento - Verona route and Lienz has trains which take a Klagenfurt - Villach - Spittal - Lienz route.

2: From June 8th to Sept 29th due to the reconstruction of a bridge on the primary Genova ↔ Milano railway, the Regionale trains on the Genova ↔ Milano route are replaced by buses
The consequences for the long-distance trains are as follows:

  • Some IC trains take an alternative route between Voghera and Milan Central Station, which takes longer. They stop in Piacenza and skip Pavia;
  • Some IC trains on the La Spezia Centrale/Grosseto – Milano Centrale and Ventimiglia – Milano Centrale routes do not stop at Milano Rogoredo or Milano Lambrate.
  • Some IC trains on the Milan Central – Ventimiglia and Milan Central – La Spezia Centrale/Livorno Centrale routes are cancelled between Voghera and Milan Central
  • IC trains 1539 and 1549 on the Savona – Milan Central route have been cancelled.
  • The Intercity service will be strengthened with two additional non-stop buses between Genoa and Milan, which will make an extraordinary stop at Milan Famagosta.
  • Until August 29, Frecciabianca trains 8619 and 8620 on the Milan Central – Genoa – Pisa – Rome Termini route will be cancelled on the Milan Central – Genoa Piazza Principe route.

Spain

1: Until June 30th 2026 València Joaquín Sorolla station is closed due to expansion works so all trains are being diverted into Valencia Nord station.

2: A replacement bus service is operating between Palencia and Venta de Baños due to improvement works
The route is used by MD services that travel between Madrid and San Sebastian.
The Alvia services are not affected.

Impacts on international routes:

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

Amsterdam ↔ Koln

From October 20 to November 2, 2025, buses replace trains between Arnhem in The Netherlands and Emmerich in Germany.
The ICE trains on the Amsterdam ↔ Frankfurt (Main) route will be diverted and won't be calling in Dusseldorf, Duisburg and Arnhem, but will instead be calling at Monchengladbach and Venlo.
The travel time between Germany and Amsterdam will be 30mins longer than usual.

Zurich ↔ Wien/Budapest/Bratislava

From October 6, 2025 to November 3, 2025, Railjet trains will be replaced by buses between Ötztal (west of Innsbruck) and Bludenz (east of Feldkirch).

Graz ↔ Zurich

Due to construction work the daily 'Transalpin' EC train may be replaced by buses between Stainach-Irdning and Bischofshofen from September 8 to October 5.

Then from October 6, 2025 , to November 3, 2025 this train will be replaced by buses between Ötztal (west of Innsbruck) and Bludenz (east of Feldkirch).

Praha/Prague ↔ Dresden - Berlin

From September 19 (9 a.m.) to September 26, 2025 (7 p.m.) AND from October 27, 2025 (9:00 PM) to November 7, 2025 (4:00 AM) the EC trains Hamburg-Berlin-Dresden-Prague only run on the Berlin* <> Dresden and Decin <> Prague sections and therefore won't be calling in Bad Schandau.
A replacement bus service will be set up between Dresden and Usti nad Labem, with connections to EC trains from/to Berlin and the Czech Republic.
*= The trains are being turned around in Berlin and won't be serving Hamburg until April 30th 2026.

During these dates the Nightjet sleeper services on the Berlin ↔ Wien/Vienna and Berlin ↔ Budapest routes, will be suspended.

Wien / Vienna ↔ Trieste

Until December 13th the daily EC trains which usually travel daily in both directions on a Wien - Graz - Maribor - Ljubljana ↔ Trieste route, will only be available between Ljubljana and Trieste.

Austria ↔ Slovenia

Until December 1st construction work has closed the railway between Villach in Austria and Jesenice in Slovenia and this route is used by all trains which travel between southern Austria and Ljubljana - and on to Zagreb.
A bus replacement service has been provided between Villach and Jesenice.

Linz ↔ Ceske Budejovice

Due to construction work, trains EC 331, EC 332, EC 333, EC 334, EC 335 and EC 336 will not run between Linz/Donau Hbf and Ceske Budejovice from October 1, 2025, to November 4, a rail replacement bus will be provided.
These EC trains usually provide a Linz ↔ Praha/Prague service.

Paris ↔ Munich

From the evening of September 12 to the morning of October 18, the TGV trains on the Paris ↔ Munich route will only be travelling between Paris and Stuttgart, so also won't be calling in Augsburg and Ulm.

Berlin ↔ Poznan - Warsaw

From October 17 (10 p.m.) to October 24, 2025 (3:30 a.m.) construction work is leading to a bus replacement service being provided between Berlin and Rzepin.
As a consequence the EC trains which typically take a Berlin – Frankfurt (Oder) – Rzepin ↔ Poznań – Warsaw route will only be travelling between Rzepin and Warsaw.
Also the EC trains which typically take a Berlin – Frankfurt (Oder) – Wroclaw – Krakow – Przemysl route, will only be travelling between Wroclaw and Przemysl.

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Simon Harper

I wanted to share my passion for train travel and explain how anyone can take the fantastic journeys I have taken.

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