December 8, 2025

Construction work between Hagen, Wuppertal and Cologne from February 2026

From 6 February, the Hagen - Wuppertal - Cologne railway line will be closed until 10 July 2026 due to extensive construction work. The so-called general refurbishment will affect both long-distance and regional trains. Here you will find all the important information about the restrictions as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

Find out about the effects of the general refurbishment in the VRR app and on the website

In the timetable information of the VRR App and on the website the construction site-related timetables are available so that passengers can find out about alternative connections during this time. Passengers can find route network plans on the DB project website specially set up for the construction work. DB project website.

Passengers can expect the following changes during the construction period:

During the general refurbishment Hagen - Wuppertal - Cologne, according to the latest information from DB there will be interruptions to train services. All regional and S-Bahn lines that are cancelled will be replaced by efficient buses or express buses.

Long-distance transport:

  • Long-distance services will be diverted via Düsseldorf and the Ruhr region - the stops in Solingen, Wuppertal and, in some cases, Hagen will be cancelled.

Local transport:

  • No train services are possible between Haan-Gruiten and Leverkusen-Opladen during the entire general refurbishment.
  • The RE 7 and RB 48 local train services will be cancelled.
  • In addition, the S 7 between Wuppertal Hbf and Remscheid-Lüttringhausen will also be cancelled for the entire period.
  • The S 68 must also be cancelled throughout the entire period for infrastructural reasons.
  • S-Bahn and regional trains will run between Haan-Gruiten, Wuppertal and Hagen Hbf, albeit with restrictions. This means that individual stops or journeys may be cancelled. However, this route and some neighbouring routes will also be fully closed to train traffic for eight weeks. This will affect the Haan-Gruiten - Wuppertal - Hagen Hbf and Düsseldorf - Haan-Gruiten routes (including the parallel route via Mettmann with the RE 4, RE 13, RE 49, S 7, S 8, S 9, S 28 and S 68 lines) and the Schwelm - Gevelsberg West S-Bahn route(S 8, S 9).

Preparatory construction work already from 26 December 2025

In order to be able to start the main work immediately next year, DB InfraGO will be carrying out urgently needed preparatory work from Friday, 26 December 2025 (9 p.m.) to Friday, 2 January 2026 (9 p.m.) . This will result in the following restrictions on train services:

The effects on the RE, RB and S-Bahn trains in detail:

Regional express:

  • RE 4: Trains will be diverted between Düsseldorf main station and Hagen main station. The stops in Schwelm and Ennepetal will be cancelled. Passengers can alternatively use the S 8 and S 9 trains between Schwelm and Gevelsberg Hauptbahnhof and the 551 bus route between Gevelsberg Hauptbahnhof and Ennepetal.
  • RE 7: Trains will be cancelled between Cologne Messe/Deutz and Hagen Hauptbahnhof. As a replacement, express buses will run between Leverkusen Mitte, Solingen Hauptbahnhof and Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof as well as buses with all intermediate stops.
  • RE 13: Trains will be diverted between Düsseldorf Central Station and Hagen Central Station. The stop in Ennepetal will be cancelled. Passengers can alternatively use the S 8 and S 9 trains between Schwelm and Gevelsberg Hauptbahnhof and the 551 bus route between Gevelsberg Hauptbahnhof and Ennepetal.
  • RE 49: Trains will be cancelled between Velbert Langenberg or Velbert-Nierenhof and Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof. Passengers can use the S 9 trains as an alternative.

Regional railway:

  • RB 48: Trains are cancelled between Köln Messe/Deutz and Wuppertal-Oberbarmen. As a replacement, buses with all intermediate stops will run between Cologne-Mülheim and Wuppertal Central Station. In addition, express buses will also run between Leverkusen-Rheindorf and Solingen Mitte. Passengers can alternatively use the RE 4, RE 13, S 8 and S 9 trains between Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof and Wuppertal-Oberbarmen.

S-Bahn:

  • S 7: Trains are cancelled between Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof and Remscheid-Lüttringhausen. Buses will run as a replacement.
  • S 8: Trains will run at a reduced frequency. There will be partial cancellations between Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof and Wuppertal-Oberbarmen. Passengers can alternatively use another S 8 service or the S 9 trains.
  • S 9: Trains will not stop in Hagen-Westerbauer and Hagen-Wehringhause. Passengers can use the S 8 trains as an alternative.
  • S 28: Trains are cancelled between Wuppertal-Vohwinkel and Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof. Passengers can use the S 8 and S 9 trains as an alternative.

Questions and answers on the general refurbishment

Fragen und Antworten zur Generalsanierung

The general renovation of the railway line between Hagen, Wuppertal and Cologne will take place from 6 February 2026 up to and including 10 July 2026. In the course of this, the railway line will be partially or fully closed to passenger and freight traffic.

Further questions and detailed answers about the scope of the general refurbishment, what is being built and where, can be found on the DB InfraGO information portals:

Click here to open the information portal!

If you have any questions, please contact DB InfraGo 's project communications team for the general refurbishment between Hagen, Wuppertal and Cologne. You can find contact details here.

If you have any operational or conceptual questions about replacement transport, please contact:
generalsanierung-nrw@deutschebahn.com.

The following lines are affected: RE 4, RE 7, RE 13, RE 49, RB 48, S 7, S 8, S 9, S 28 and S 68.

Further information can be found in the DB FAQ. Click here to open the FAQ.

All information about the replacement buses can be found in the FAQ of the DB.

You should expect longer journey times on replacement services, as the journey times of buses and trains can differ significantly in some cases. Also, road conditions sometimes do not allow for direct traffic routing. The departure times of the buses therefore differ from the departure times of the trains that are actually running. Various replacement bus routes run from some junctions in order to offer passengers as many options as possible to get to their destination.

It is also planned that passengers will be able to change back to a train as early as possible - for example in Leverkusen-Mitte to the trains travelling there in the direction of Cologne.

The replacement bus service is based on the existing train service. Consideration will also be given to the fact that the journey times of the buses are longer than those of the trains. This means that buses will still be travelling at very early and very late times. All connections and replacement services have already been entered into the electronic timetable information from DB and the VRR and can be called up there.

The transfer times at the connecting hubs are planned in such a way that a convenient transfer can be guaranteed even in the event of slight delays. Unfortunately, this cannot be guaranteed for longer delays. Nevertheless, the lines run every 10 or 15 minutes on many sections, so that there is not too much waiting time in the event of long delays. On the last few journeys, we endeavour to wait for delays from train to bus to a certain extent by bus.

Further questions and information and downloads on general refurbishment

Can't find your question?

Deutsche Bahn answers all other questions on its FAQ list created especially for the general refurbishment.

Further information and downloads on the general renovation

Deutsche Bahn is bundling current and further information on a website specially created for the general refurbishment of the Hagen - Wuppertal - Cologne line. There you will also find all the route maps for the replacement services.