Kassel / Göttingen (dpa) – Due to a general overhaul of the high-speed line between Göttingen and Kassel, Deutsche Bahn passengers will have to plan more time from April 24, 2021. “The long-distance transport offer will largely be maintained, but there will be changed connections and longer travel times,” said a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn on Tuesday. The section will be renovated for around 120 million euros by mid-July. The blockage also affects connections to Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt.
In long-distance traffic, according to Deutsche Bahn, the majority of connections are maintained with 100 journeys per day – albeit with longer journey times and more complicated connections. Because the trains are diverted via Eichenberg. That takes around 40 minutes. 15 trips per day are omitted. For a few trains, there is a large diversion with travel time extensions of up to 100 minutes.
DIRECTION HAMBURG To the north, the railway promises a continued dense long-distance transport offer. However, there are some changes: Among other things, line 25 Hamburg-Würzburg-Munich only runs every two hours and does not stop in Kassel. Line 26 (Hamburg-Marburg-Frankfurt-Karlsruhe) no longer goes beyond Hamburg and no longer stops in Celle, Uelzen and Lüneburg.
DIRECTION BERLIN Berlin is served directly every two hours by line 12 Berlin-Braunschweig-Frankfurt-Interlaken, otherwise you have to change trains. Line 13 Berlin-Braunschweig-Frankfurt Airport is canceled except for a few single trips. The early sprinter – an express train with few stops – at 6 a.m. from Frankfurt non-stop to Berlin doesn’t run.
DIRECTION MUNICH / WÜRZBURG After Würzburg, the train continues every hour, to Nuremberg and Munich, due to other construction sites, travel times and transfers are required. Line 25.1 Hamburg-Würzburg-Munich via Augsburg instead of Nuremberg and Ingolstadt takes 25 minutes longer. Line 25.2 Hamburg-Würzburg-Nuremberg takes 30 minutes longer and does not continue to Munich.
DIRECTION FRANKFURT The offer to Frankfurt is reduced, but from Göttingen the trains continue to run more frequently than just every hour. Among other things, line 12 Berlin-Braunschweig-Frankfurt-Interlaken, lines 20/22 Hamburg-Frankfurt-Zurich or Stuttgart and line 26 Hamburg-Marburg-Frankfurt-Karlsruhe with an additional stop in Eichenberg. Line 13 Berlin-Braunschweig-Frankfurt Airport is no longer available. The ICE from Erfurt to and from Frankfurt continues every hour from Fulda.
LOCAL TRANSPORT
There are also numerous changes in the local traffic of the North Hessian Transport Association NVV. Among other things, regional express trains run between Halle, Erfurt and Kassel and between Düsseldorf, Hagen and Kassel go to Kassel main station instead of Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe.
According to the railway, it is a relatively short section of 40 kilometers that is being renewed. Among other things, 75 kilometers of track, 48 switches, 72,000 railway sleepers and 95,000 tons of ballast will be exchanged. In 2019, the railway had already renewed the section between Hanover and Göttingen. The Kassel-Fulda and Fulda-Würzburg sections of the route are also to be renovated by 2023. According to the railway, the high-speed route between Hanover and Würzburg usually carries around 15.5 million passengers a year.
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