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Travel News A Summary of Major Works on the Railway Lines
The current European major railway works that will be impacting on rail services

A Summary of Major Works on the Railway Lines

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

| Last Updated: 5 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) 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).

(2) 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.
We apologize for any inconvenience.

(3) 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.

(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.

Denmark:

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.

France

(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.

Germany (long-distance services):

1: At Stuttgart Hbf

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.

2: in Hamburg

The line between Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg-Altona stations has been shut down for a bridge replacement

As a consequence until Sept 21st services are having to be reduced as follows

  • All long-distance train stops in Hamburg Altona and Hamburg Dammtor will be cancelled; trains will be turned around at Hamburg Hbf.
  • ICE trains run approximately every hour to/from Hamburg Hbf in/to North Rhine-Westphalia via Bremen
  • ICE trains run approximately every hour to/from Frankfurt and southern Germany via Frankfurt.
  • There are hourly ICE trains to/from Berlin from/to Hamburg Hbf.
  • to/from Munich via Hanover, there are at least ICE trans every other hour, but they will be starting / finishing their journeys at Hamburg - Harburg.
  • Only 2 x ICE trains per day will run to/from Kiel.

2: 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.

3: 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).

Until September 18, 2026 (9 p.m.)

During this time the remaining long-distance trains through Mainz will also be impacted.

  • The ICE trains which typically take a Koln- Koblenz - Mainz - Frankfurt - Nurnberg route won't be calling in Mainz or Frankfurt Flughafen
  • The ICE trains on the Wiesbaden - Mainz - Frankfurt (Main) - Leipzig - Dresden route will be turning around at Frankfurt Flughafen and won't be serving Mainz and Wiesbaden
  • The ICE trains on the Hamburg - Kassel -Frankfurt (Main) - Mainz - Wiesbaden route will only be operating between Hamburg and Frankfurt (Main) on most of these dates.

4: 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.

5: 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.

6: 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.

7: 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.

8: 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.

Great Britain:

(1) At Huddersfield

From Saturday 19 September 2026 to Sunday 04 October 2026 engineering work is taking place at Huddersfield, closing all lines which serve the station.
Trains between Sheffield and Huddersfield will be turned around at Lockwood.

Trans Pennine Express services will be amended and the still available services between Manchester and Leeds will be calling at Brighouse instead of Huddersfield.
Trains will operate hourly on the following routes;

Monday to Friday:

  • Liverpool Lime Street <> Newcastle
  • Manchester Victoria <> Redcar Central (also calling at Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Sowerby Bridge)
  • Manchester Victoria <> Scarborough (additionally calling at Castleton)
  • Leeds <> Hull
  • Wakefield Kirkgate <> York
  • Manchester Piccadilly <> Marsden

Saturdays:
As Monday to Friday except Manchester Piccadilly <> Marsden is replaced by Manchester Airport<> Stalybridge

Sundays:
As Saturdays except Manchester Victoria <> Redcar Central trains will not make the additional station calls.

(2) Llandrindod ↔ Shrewsbury

From Monday 28 September 2026 to Friday 02 October 2026 buses replace trains between Llandrindod and Shrewsbury.
This will impact on trains taking the Heart Of Wales route, Carmarthen / Swansea - Llandrindod - Shrewsbury.

(3) 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.

Italy

(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.

Spain

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.

Switzerland

(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.

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.

Paris ↔ Berlin by ICE train

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.

Nuremberg ↔ Linz

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.

Innsbruck ↔ Zurich

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.

Amsterdam ↔ Hannover - Berlin

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.

Dresden ↔ Decin - Praha / Prague

(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.

Vienna / Wien ↔ Venice / Venezia and Trieste

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.

Wien / Munchen - Salzburg ↔ Venezia night trains

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.

Paris - (Lyon) ↔ Torino - Miano

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.

Villach ↔ Lesce-Bled

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.

Lille ↔ Mouscron

On weekdays from Sept 14th to Sept 25 buses will replace some IC trains between Lille and Mouscron / Moeskroen.
The IC trains would usually be taking Lille ↔ Kortrijk and Lille ↔ Gent - Antwerpen routes.

Hamburg ↔ Copenhagen

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.

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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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