Essen (dpa / lnw) – On the main railway line through the Ruhr area, train passengers and especially commuters will have to prepare for considerable problems in the coming week. From next Monday (9:00 p.m.) to Thursday (November 24/5:00 a.m.), more than 3,800 meters of new rails will be laid between Dortmund Central Station and Bochum-Langendreer. Deutsche Bahn and the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) announced that 630 sleepers and 600 tons of ballast will be replaced. During the modernization work, which cost a good one million euros, there were restrictions on local and long-distance traffic.
The National Express lines RE6 (RRX), RE1 (RRX) and RE11 (RRX) and RE11 (RRX) are particularly affected. At RE6 and RE1 there are diversions with no stops in Mülheim/Ruhr, Essen, Wattenscheid and Bochum. Replacement stops are planned in Oberhausen, Essen-Altenessen, Gelsenkirchen and Herne. The RE11 also sometimes does not stop between Dortmund and Duisburg, i.e. in Bochum, Wattenscheid, Essen and Mülheim. It then also runs via Gelsenkirchen, Herne, E-Altenessen and Oberhausen. The other RE11 trains via Dortmund-Hörde and Unna are scheduled to run. The S1 is not affected by the closures and is driving as usual.
Long-distance traffic is also restricted during the construction period. According to DB, the long-distance trains will be diverted between Dortmund and Duisburg or Cologne between Monday evening and Thursday morning and will then not stop in Bochum and Essen – and depending on the diversion, not in Mülheim, Duisburg or Düsseldorf Airport and Düsseldorf Hbf either.
All timetable changes are included in the online information systems of DB and VRR and are also announced on notices on the platforms. In addition, the changes can be viewed at “bauinfos.deutschebahn.com/nrw”, “zuginfo.nrw” and via the “DB Bauarbeiten” app.
