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, some long-distance trains between Klagenfurt Hbf and Villach Hbf will be cancelled from October 19, 2026 to November 12, 2026 (4:00 AM). We have arranged a rail replacement bus service.
Due to the construction work, there may be some restrictions on seat reservations.

(2) Due to construction work, no trains will run between St. Pölten Central Station and Mariazell Station from November 2nd to November 20th, 2026.
A rail replacement bus service will be provided.

(3) Due to construction work, no long-distance trains will run between Ötztal Bahnhof and Bludenz Bahnhof
from November 18, 2026 (8:20 a.m.) to November 23, 2026 (4:00 a.m.) - buses will replace trains for parts of the journey

This will impact on Railjet and Westbahn trains taking this route:
Wien - Linz - Salzburg - Innsbruck - (Otztal - Bludenz) - Landeck-Zams - St Anton - Feldkirch - Breg

(4) Due to construction work, no local-trains and some long-distance trains cannot operate between Klagenfurt Hbf and Villach Hbf from 23/11/2026 (08:00am) through to 30/11/2026 (04:00pm).
Rail replacement bus services will be arranged.

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.

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

(1) From August 10 to December 12 due to work on the high speed line north of Arras. some TGV INOUI trains which travel to and from Lille will operate at reduced speeds or take a different route.
Consequently, route changes and train cancellations are to be expected.

(2) From Sunday, November 8, at 11:00 p.m. to Sunday, November 15, at 12:00 p.m. TER trains bound for the Côte d’Azur will depart from or terminate at Marseille Blancarde station (accessible via Metro Line 1) instead of at the main Marseille-St Charles station.
The TER trains will be taking the Marseille - Toulon - St Raphael - Cannes - Antibes - Nice route.

(3) From November 21 - 26 and on December 5-6 there will be a reduced service available between Bordeaux and Toulouse.

(4) Until November 6th, buses replace most of the trains on the Clermont Ferrand <> Beziers route.

(5) Until November 6th, buses replace trains between Grenoble and Gap.

1: From / to Obertsdorf

Until October 9th, then from October 19th to 24th, then from October 31st to November 5th and from November 13th to 16th, ICE trains won't be serving Obertsdorf and instead will be turning round in Stuttgart.

2: Bonn / Wiesbaden ↔ Mainz - Frankfurt (Main)

Until 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 won't be calling in Mainz.
• 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).

3: Hannover <> Berlin

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.

4: The IC train route through Seigen

Until December 12th the trains on IC line 34 (Frankfurt - Siegen - Dortmund - Münster) are cancelled along their entire route due to track renewal between Seigen and Dortmund.

5: IC trains through Weimar, Jena and Gera

From September 21 (midnight) to December 12, 2026 (11:59 PM) the IC trains on route 51 (Cologne - Paderborn - Kassel - Erfurt - Gera) are cancelled along their entire route.

Though the ICE trains which take route 51 (Cologne - Paderborn - Kassel - Erfurt - Leipzig) will still be available.

6: Duisburg <> Dortmund / Oberhausen

From October 9 (9 PM) to October 30, 2026 (9 PM)

• no ICE or IC trains will be calling in Duisburg and Oberhausen
• All ICE trains between destinations south of Koln and Essen will be diverted and won't be calling at Essen and Bochum
• There will be hourly trains on Cologne <> Berlin / Hamburg routes, but additional connections will be required in Dortmund.

7: 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.

8: at Rostock

From October 2 (9 PM) to December 12, 2026 (11:59 PM) trains between Rostock and Berlin are being diverted via Schwerin.
The journey time will be extended by up to 90 minutes.
The stops in Waren (Müritz), Neustrelitz Hbf and Oranienburg are cancelled.

**9: at Aschaffenburg **
From November 9 (5 a.m.) to December 12, 2026 (11:59 p.m.) trains are being diverted between Hanau and Würzburg.
The travel time between Frankfurt and Würzburg will increase by approximately 45 minutes.
The key route affected is ICE line 41: Essen - Koln-Messe-Deutz - Frankfurt (Main) - Wurzburg - Nurnberg - Munchen.

10: Halle (Salle) <> Erfurt
October 11 (10 PM) to November 2, 2026 (4 AM) the capacity of the high speed line between Bitterfeld and Halle (Saale) will be reduced.
There will still be at least hourly connections between Berlin and Frankfurt/Munich.
However, some trains will be rerouted, resulting in journey time extensions of up to 30 minutes, and in some cases even longer.
In addition, some trains will be cancelled, including the Sprinter connections between Berlin and Frankfurt.

(1) Edinburgh ↔ Dundee

From Saturday 10 October 2026 to Friday 23 October 2026 electrification work is closing the route between Inverkeithing and Kirkcaldy.
The route is usually taken by all trains travelling between Edinburgh and Dundee including LNER trains on the London ↔ Aberdeen route and ScotRail's Inter7City trains on the Edinburgh ↔ Aberdeen route.

(2) Worcester ↔ Hereford

From Monday 26 to Friday 30 October track renewal work is closing the Worcester - Great Malvern - Hereford route, buses will be replacing the trains.
Also most trains between Worcester and both Birmingham and London will only be using Worcester Shrub Hill station and not Worcester Foregate Street station.

(3) Windsor

Buses replace trains between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, but the alternative route to/from Windsor by connecting at Slough will be unaffected.

*(4) Havant ↔ Portsmouth / Southampton

From Monday 26 October 2026 to Friday 30 October 2026 work on the signaling in the Havant area will have the following consequences:

• London Waterloo ↔ Portsmouth trains will be operating London ↔ Petersfield with buses replacing trains between Petersfield and Portsmouth.
• London Victoria / Horsham ↔ Portsmouth trains will be operating London / Horsham ↔ Chichester with buses replacing trains between Chichester and Portsmouth.
• Brighton ↔ Southampton trains will be operating Brighton ↔ Chichester with buses replacing trains between Chichester and Southampton.

(5) Crianlarich - Fort William - Mallaig

From Monday 9 to Tuesday 17 November, buses will replace trains between Crianlarich, Fort William and Mallaig.
An additional bus service will run between Tulloch, Roy Bridge, Spean Bridge and Fort William.
Rannoch and Corrour will not be served by trains or bus services.
Trains between Crianlarich and Oban will run normally.

(1) Until September 30th, extraordinary maintenance work will be carried out on the Bressana Bottarone Bridge over the Po River, the bridge is on the main rail route between Milan and Genoa.
Route changes and restrictions will apply to some high-speed trains.
Route changes, restrictions, cancellations, and bus services will apply to some Intercity trains.
The Eurocity trains trains on the Zurich ↔ La Spezia route will be travelling Zurich ↔ Milan.

(2) Until Monday, October 26th, scheduled maintenance work will take place between Pisa Centrale and Quercianella, which is located to the south of Livorno.
This therefore impacts on the Pisa - Livorno - Grosseto - Rome route
Changes, including early schedule changes and cancellations, will be made to some Frecce trains.
Changes, including early schedule changes, route restrictions, cancellations, and bus services will be introduced for some Intercity and regional trains.

(3) From Saturday, September 5th to Saturday, October 31st, infrastructure upgrades will be carried out on the Rome ↔ Florence line.
Changes, route restrictions, and bus services will be applied to some high-speed and regional trains.
Changes, cancellations, and bus services will be applied to some intercity trains.

(4) Starting Sunday, September 13, infrastructure upgrades will be carried out between Sibari and Crotone.
Changes and bus services will be provided for some Intercity trains on the Reggio di Calabria - Sibari - Crotone - Taranto route.
Changes, cancellations, and bus services will also be provided for some Regional trains.

(5) From Thursday, September 10th to Thursday, October 29th, extraordinary maintenance work will take place on the Genoa ↔ Ventimiglia line.
Changes, route restrictions, and bus services will be applied to Intercity and Regional trains.

Madrid ↔ Jaen / Almeira

From September 6th:.

• The MD services on the Madrid ↔ Jaen route are replaced by buses between Almuradiel and Jaen.
• The IC service on the Madrid ↔ Almería route will be suspended with substitute buses operating between Almería and Linares-Baeza; the Alvia service on the Almería-Granada-Madrid route is unaffected.

(1) Until Sat Oct 17th the line between Davos and Klosters will be closed for maintenance work with all trains replaced by buses.

(2) Until November 1, 2026 trains on the Luzern ↔ Engelberg route will be turning around in Stansstad with buses replacing trains between Stansstad and Engelberg.

(3) From 01:00 on Sept 14th until 04:00 on Oct 17th buses replace trains between Montreux and Haut-de-Caux on the Montreux ↔ Rochers-de-Naye route.

(4) From Oct 12th until November 23rd buses replace trains between Martigny and Vernayaz / Les Marécottes on the Martigny ↔ Vallorcine 'Mont Blanc Express route.

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

Until December 12th there will be no direct service of ICE trains between Paris and Berlin.
The daily round-trip service will operate only between Paris and Frankfurt.

Customers who have already purchased a ticket to one of the stations not being served may keep it. It entitles you to take:

• any train between Berlin and Frankfurt to travel from your scheduled boarding station, then take the scheduled train in Frankfurt
• any train between Frankfurt and Berlin to reach your scheduled destination station after arriving in Frankfurt.

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 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.

Works 1

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 travelling between Feldkirch and Budapest.
• The daily 'Transalpin' service which typically takes a Zurich - Buchs ↔ Feldkirch - Innsbruck - Zell-am-See - Radstadt - Leoben - Graz route will bei travelling between Innsbruck and Graz
• Timings of the night trains between Zurich and Budapest, Graz, Wien and Zagreb will be altered.

Works 2

Due to construction work, no long-distance trains will run between Ötztal Bahnhof and Bludenz Bahnhof
from November 18, 2026 (8:20 a.m.) to November 23, 2026 (4:00 a.m.) - buses will replace trains for parts of the journey

This will impact on Railjet trains taking this route:
Wien - Linz - Salzburg - Innsbruck - (Otztal - Bludenz) - Landeck-Zams - St Anton - Feldkirch - Buchs - Sargans - Zurich

From October 2nd to December 12th 2026:

The trains 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.

(1) 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.

(2) From September 30 to October 4 and on October 6, 2026, each day from 9:10 a.m. to 5:10 p.m due to bridge replacement work a replacement bus service will be provided between Dresden Hbf and Usti nad Labem.
In Dresden there is a connection to the trains of the IC line 17 (Rostock - Berlin - Dresden) to/from Berlin.
In Usti nad Labem there is a connection to the trains of the RJ line 27 ((Copenhagen -) Hamburg - Berlin - Dresden - Prague) to/from Prague.

Due to construction work in Italy, the trains NJ 236, NJ 40236, NJ 237 and NJ 40466 will be diverted between Venezia Mestre and Salzburg Hbf from 21/08/2026 through 20/09/2026.
Therefore during these this time the trains cannot stop in Treviso Centrale, Conegliano, Pordenone, Udine, Tarvisio-Boscoverde and Villach Hbf.

From 10:35 p.m. on September 11 to 10:35 p.m. on October 9 the TGV France/Italy (SVI) trains are canceled due to construction work connected to the construction of the future Lyon - Turin tunnel.
Presumably the Frecce trains on this route will be similarly affected.

Due to construction work by Slovenian Railways (SZ), no long-distance trains will run between Villach Hbf and Lesce-Bled
from September 26, 2026 to November 11, 2026.
A rail replacement bus service will be provided.

The affected daytime rail routes are:

• Munich - Salzburg - Villach - Lesce-Bled - Ljubljana - Zagreb
• Villach - Lesce-Bled - Ljubljana

The Euronight trais on the Stuttgart - Munchen ↔ Ljubljana - Zagreb will be diverted between Schwarzach im Pongau-St.Veit and and Zidani Most from 26/09/2026 through 14/10/2026.
As a result the train canot make its usual calls in Lesce-Bled and Ljubljana
A replacement train is being arranged between Ljubljana and Lesce Bled.
A rail replacement bus service is being arranged between Lesce Bled and Villach Hbf.

Also from 24/09/2026 through 14/10/2026 the Zurich ↔ Ljubljana - Zagreb service is completely cancelled.

Until Saturday, October 31st, there are a few departures where you will take the Togbus between Kolding and Hamburg when traveling between Copenhagen and Hamburg.

The changes are due to track work.

From Copenhagen to Hamburg:

The trains ECE 399 from Copenhagen Central Station at 4:22 pm and the ECE 1199 from Copenhagen Central Station at 6:22 pm are cancelled.
The alternatives are to take the regular IC trains to Kolding which depart:

• from Copenhagen Central Station at 4:32pm / 6:32pm
• from Odense at 6:09pm / 8:09pm
  Connecting into a bus replacement service on from Kolding to Hamburg.

From Copenhagen to Hamburg

The 6:50 am from Hamburg Hbf is not running and will be replaced by a 7:00am bus to Kolding, with a connection into a Danish IC train on to Odense and Copenhagen.

The 8:55am from Hamburg Hbf is also not running, but the alternative is to take other trains and make at least two connections along the route.

Due to construction work , some long-distance trains will not run between Munich Central Station and Lindau (Lake Constance) Reutin Station from November 24th to November 29th, 2026 , and on December 3rd, 2026.
On November 30th, 2026, trains EC 198 and EC 196 will not run between Munich Central Station and Zurich Central Station . Due to the construction work, there may be some restrictions on seat reservations.

From Nov 29th to Dec the CD Railjet trains on the Prague - Berlin - Hamburg ↔ Copenhagen route will only be available between Hamburg and Copenhagen.

Until November 3rd the ICE trains on the Dortmund - Koln - Frankfurt Airport - Stuttgart - Ulm - Friedrichshafen - Lindau - Bregenz - Landeck-Zams - Innsbruck route will be turning around in Friedrichshafen and will be replaced by buses between Friedrichshafen and Bregenz.

From November 9 (9 PM) to November 16, 2026 (9 PM) trains will be diverted between Cologne and Utrecht increasing the journey time by approximately 30 minutes.
The usual stops at Düsseldorf Hbf, Duisburg Hbf, Oberhausen Hbf and Arnhem Centraal are cancelled.