June 15th, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s major long distance train operator, says they completed their renovation of 165 kilometers (103 miles) on the route between Berlin and Hamburg, the total length of which is 278 kilometers (173 miles). They also had to replace 249 switches and 25 km (16 miles) of contact wires. On Sunday night, the first freight train used the refurbished, old route again, and it did make it from A to B in one piece. Passenger trains were supposed to follow today.
For ten months, DB’s “corridor restoration” had caused issues for passengers. Flying from Berlin to Hamburg or back to Berlin does not make sense because the distance between Germany’s two largest cities is too short. Therefore, trains are the most important means of transportation, which is why the 2.2 billion Euro (2.55 billion Dollars or 1.9 billion Pounds Sterling) DB invested were well-spent.
During the construction period, train trips took a lot longer, since trains had to be rerouted via Uelzen and Stendal, via regional train tracks. The chaos caused by those measures was rather bad. On a regular basis, trains were cancelled, including some by the private operator FlixTrain. From now on, DB’s Intercity Express Trains (ICE) will be allowed to race from Berlin to Hamburg again – and back to Berlin. Before the construction began, the speed on this route was limited to 230 km/h (143 mph), even though ICEs can reach 250 and even 300 km/h (155 to 186 mph).
The fastest train from Berlin’s Central Station to the one in Hamburg takes 1:49 hours to get there. During the renovation, it took them some two and a half hours, when everything went well, which it usually didn’t. DB even prepared the route for 5G cell phone service. At some point, today’s standard will eventually be available during the entire trip. Welcome to Germany in 2026.
Crash Program
“With Hamburg–Berlin, we have now completed the largest corridor renovation within the program planned through 2036”, Philipp Nagl, the CEO of DB’s affiliate InfraGo stated. “Thanks to the federal government’s special fund, comprehensive renovation measures like this are possible in the first place.” Since the Federal Republic of Germany owns DB, it had to pile up all of this cash, in order to pay 1000 workers and all the gear and material.
Deutsche Bahn wouldn’t be Deutsche Bahn if it hadn’t done even more good. Even they noticed many of their train stations are in a problematic state. As a result, they announced they would send out teams right away. Their mission, if they choose to accept it, is to jump-start a crash program to resolve technical issues and the obvious hygiene problem.
It gets better: In Berlin, DB also put the new S-Bahn train line S15 into service. It is supposed to take tens of thousands of Berliners and visitors from Central Station to the Ringbahn circle, and vice versa. These trains are supposed to leave every ten minutes. In the 2030s, the S15 line will be prolonged to Potsdamer Platz, located to the south of Central Station.
