| Work Detail |
Deutsche Bahn (DB) has successfully completed the first general renovation of the heavily used Mannheim–Frankfurt railway line (Riedbahn) after five months of work. A symbolic ceremony was organised on December 14, 2024, when trains started to use the line again. The event was attended by the CEO of DB, Richard Lutz, and the Federal Transport Minister, Volker Wissing, as well as representatives of the states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse.
“The completion of the first general renovation is an important step in the structural renovation of our infrastructure. New tracks, switches, signals and interlocking technology will ensure stable operations on this heavily used route in the future. Travellers will benefit from modern and attractive stations of the future,” DB CEO Richard Lutz said.
Along the 70 km Riedbahn route, more than 800 employees of DB and the construction companies involved have almost completely renewed the fault-prone and outdated infrastructure since July 15. Diversion and replacement services continued to reliably bring passenger and freight customers to their destinations over the five months.
The project involved the rehabilitation of 111 km of tracks, 152 switches, 619 signals, almost 16 km of noise barriers, 130 km of contact wire, 383 overhead line masts and 8 platforms. In addition to new signal box technology, the new ETCS will also be used on the route between Frankfurt/Main and Mannheim in the future. Commissioning will take place in stages. ETCS will initially go into operation on the section of the route from Mannheim-Waldhof to Biblis, in southern Hesse. All other sections will follow in the second quarter of 2025. Passenger and freight traffic will not be affected.
The renovation of Mannheim–Frankfurt railway was essential to improve the operational situation of the infrastructure and signaling systems that now ensure better and smooth traffic as well as greater customer satisfaction.
“Even after the renovation, however, the Riedbahn will remain one of the most heavily used routes in the German railway network. That is why here – as in other places on the network – in addition to the renovation, we also need the rapid continuation of planning for expansion projects, such as the new Frankfurt-Mannheim line,” said Umut Sönmez, the State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy, Transport, Housing and Rural Area.
The renovation is intended to reduce operational disruptions on Riedbahn, one of the busiest routes in Germany by up to 80 percent. This makes the general renovation one of the central pillars of the S3 renovation programme, which the group approved in September.
“The new railway renovation concept is working. This puts us on the way to a punctual and reliable railway. Even if the remaining corridors differ from one another, this approach will succeed in bringing our existing network into a modern state in the shortest possible time,” Volker Wissing said. |
