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:
According to the latest information from DB, train service will be disrupted during the major renovation of the Hagen–Wuppertal–Cologne line. All regional and commuter rail lines that are canceled will be replaced by high-capacity buses or express buses.
The main construction period runs from February 6, 2026 (9:00 p.m.) to July 10, 2026 (9:00 p.m.). During this period, there will be full closures as well as partial closures.
Periods of full closures:
May 15, 2026 – June 12, 2026
Periods of partial closures:
April 4, 2026 – May 14, 2026
June 13, 2026 – July 10, 2026
Follow-up work will take place from July 10, 2026, to August 7, 2026, and from August 21, 2026, to September 4, 2026.
The closures will have the following effects on rail operations:
Long-distance service:
Long-distance service will be rerouted via Düsseldorf and the Ruhr region – stops at Solingen, Wuppertal, and, in some cases, Hagen will be omitted.
Local Rail Service:
- No train service will be available between Haan-Gruiten and Leverkusen-Opladen for the duration of the major renovation.
- On the local rail network, the RE 7 and RB 48 lines will be suspended.
- In addition, the S 7 line between Wuppertal Central Station and Remscheid-Lüttringhausen will also be suspended for the entire period.
- The S 68 line must also be suspended for the entire period due to infrastructure issues.
- S-Bahn and regional trains are running intermittently between Haan-Gruiten, Wuppertal, and Hagen Central Station, though with some restrictions. This means that individual stops or trips may be canceled. However, this route and several adjacent routes will also be completely closed to train traffic for eight weeks. The affected routes are Haan-Gruiten – Wuppertal – Hagen Central Station and Düsseldorf – Haan-Gruiten (including the parallel route via Mettmann with lines RE 4, RE 13, RE 49, S 7, S 8, S 9, S 28, and S 68) and the Schwelm – Gevelsberg West S-Bahn line (S 8, S 9).
Replacement schedules and further information regarding the restrictions on the relevant lines can also be found at zuginfo.nrw.
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.
General information on SPNV roadworks
You can find the current construction sites on our website under Construction sites.
Further information on the individual lines, such as replacement timetables and information on bus departure stops, can be found here: www.zuginfo.nrw
The timetable changes are included in the VRR and DB online timetable information before the start of the construction work.
Tickets are not available on the buses. Tickets for buses and trains can be purchased online via the app or at the stations (not at the bus stops) from the ticket machines or in the customer centres.