Germany’s rail provider and infrastructure manager Deutsche Bahn (DB) has begun a landmark renovation of what it says is one of its busiest corridors. 

The Frankfurt to Mannheim route will undergo a five-month process, with long-distance and freight services diverted and rail replacement buses provided for shorter passenger services. 

The line, known as the Riedbahn is considered “particularly prone to disruption” and therefore it is a major target for modernisation. 

Over the next five months, with the target completion date in late November, DB will build 117 kilometres of tracks, at least 15 kilometres of noise barriers, and replace 140 kilometres of catenary lines. Control signals and safety equipment will also be upgraded, according to DB. 

Around 16,000 passengers use the line each day, and to ease the commuter disruption, a new fleet of DB-owned buses will be used to complete the journeys. 

When the public returns to the stations on the line in southwest Germany, they will enter 20 refurbished and modernised stations. 

The selected stations will be “future-proofed” with updated passenger information services and “friendly and brightly designed underpasses” between platforms. New accessible ramps and elevators will be added where needed. 

"The Riedbahn marks a turning point: We are building a new and better railway - for our customers and for a modern, sustainable Germany. I am glad that it is finally getting started. We are starting where the burden is greatest: the Riedbahn is one of the busiest railway lines in Germany,” explained DB CEO Richard Lutz

But Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing piled pressure on the works, and DB, as the vital work began. 

"The whole of Germany is watching the Riedbahn. The expectations of commuters, long-distance travelers and freight transport customers, who are currently suffering daily from the poor condition of the network, are rightly high in view of the enormous investments but also the restrictions that they have to accept during the closure,” Wissing declared. 

“In the next 152 days, a new renovation and modernization concept will be implemented so that the decades-long backlog of renovations can be dealt with quickly. The federal government has created all the conditions for this - both legally and financially. The railway must now implement this successfully - first on the Riedbahn, then throughout Germany."

The renovations and upgrades to passenger stations and the rail lines are expected to cost €1.3bn ($1.4bn). It is expected that once the five-month intensive process is complete, no “major” work will be needed on the 70km line for at least five years.