On February 6, DB InfraGO launched modernization work on two railway corridors, one located in Bavaria and the other in Bergisches Land.
One of the two railway corridors is the 88 km Nürnberg-Regensburg corridor, for which work began in Neumarkt (Oberpfalz) on one of the 60 construction platforms. For five months, the line will be completely closed, with long-distance passenger and freight rail traffic being diverted and regional trains suspended.
“With the general rehabilitation of the Nuremberg-Regensburg rail corridor, we are concentrating an ambitious volume of work on one of the most important rail sections in Bavaria,” said Gerd-Dietrich Bolte, member of the board for infrastructure planning and projects at DB InfraGO.
The work includes the renewal of 96 km of track, 74 switches, and safety and signaling systems that will be prepared for the installation of ETCS, as well as 81 km of contact lines. In addition, 20 stations along the route will be modernized and adapted for people with reduced mobility.
The Nuremberg-Regensburg corridor is used by over 350 trains daily, making it one of the busiest routes in Bavaria. The route is an important part of the European Rhine-Danube transport axis and, at the same time, an essential element of rail traffic to and from Austria. The line is considered overloaded, and the infrastructure is partially outdated and highly prone to failure.
The second corridor is Hagen–Wuppertal–Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia, with work starting in parallel. It should be noted that in this region, DB InfraGO completed the rehabilitation of the corridor between Emmerich and Oberhausen in 2025 as part of the line tripling project.
“With the rehabilitation of the line between Hagen, Wuppertal, and Cologne, we are consistently continuing our extensive program of works. Right in the heart of North Rhine-Westphalia, we are concentrating an ambitious volume of investment on one of the most important regional and long-distance transport axes, renewing the rails, switches, and overhead contact line,” said Philipp Nagl, CEO of DB InfraGO.
The rehabilitation of the Hagen–Wuppertal–Cologne corridor will also be carried out over a period of five months, during which DB InfraGO will renew 81 km of track, 50 switches, and 29 km of overhead contact lines, and 4 km of sound-absorbing panels will be installed along the route, which will lead to a significant reduction in noise levels for residents in adjacent areas in the future.
Twelve stations will be completely refurbished, with a particular focus on modernizing accessibility and improving the visual appearance of the stations. The station modernization work will continue after the end of the current construction phase and is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.
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