The Hamburg-Berlin railway line went back online after a six-week delay. The first long-distance train left Hamburg Central Station for Berlin with a slight delay at 5:36 a.m., Deutsche Bahn announced. “The route has been reopened and the first trains are rolling between Hamburg and Berlin. Freight trains started on the newly renovated route yesterday evening,” it said.
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The trains also started again from Berlin towards the Hanseatic city. However, the railway called on passengers to find out the exact departure time before traveling. “When commissioning on this scale, there may initially be teething problems.”
No more rail replacement services and no more diversions
Thousands of commuters are no longer dependent on rail replacement bus services. While long-distance traffic was rerouted via Stendal and Uelzen, there were no regional trains on the route for months. Trains have been running continuously between Hamburg and Schwerin again since mid-May.
Construction work on the route began in August 2025. The so-called general renovation was actually supposed to be completed at the end of April, but the harsh winter and the frozen ground caused delays, according to the railway.
As part of the construction work, 165 kilometers of tracks were renewed and 61 kilometers repaired. 249 switches were installed and 28 stations were modernized.
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