Hamburg rail artery closes for six weeks from Friday as three bridges are replaced

What is closing and when

Hamburg's central rail spine, the Verbindungsbahn linking Hauptbahnhof and Altona, will be impassable from Friday 18 July until at least 30 August. Deutsche Bahn is renewing three railway bridges: the Eisenbahnüberführungen at Schanzenstrasse and Holstenstrasse, and the Sternbrücke. The closure was originally scheduled to end on 15 August but has been extended because work on the Sternbrücke is taking longer than planned. The period falls within the Hamburg summer school holidays, when passenger volumes are typically lower.

S-Bahn disruption and replacement buses

S-Bahn services between Sternschanze and Altona will not run from 17 July until close of operations on 30 August. Passengers on lines S2, S5 and S7 must switch to replacement buses between Altona and Sternschanze. Line S5 (Elbgaustrasse/Stade) will be rerouted between Altona and Hauptbahnhof via the City Tunnel, serving Landungsbrücken and Jungfernstieg instead of Sternschanze and Dammtor. All timetable changes are available through the HVV journey planner.

There will be diversions, cancellations and timetable changes.

Long-distance trains diverted to outer stations

From 18 July to 15 August, no long-distance trains will call at Dammtor or Altona. Many services at Hauptbahnhof will be cancelled or diverted, with further restrictions expected until 31 August at 04:00 that have not yet been detailed by the railway. Trains to and from Denmark will start at Hauptbahnhof or, on some departures, at Harburg. Munich–Berlin services will run hourly and stop at Hauptbahnhof but skip Dammtor and Altona. Rostock/Binz trains will stop only at Bergedorf. Westerland/Sylt services will bypass Hauptbahnhof and run via Harburg, and will be cancelled entirely from 19 to 22 July because of separate works in Elmshorn. Bremen–Cologne corridor trains will depart hourly from Hauptbahnhof, with individual connections starting only from Harburg. Southbound services via Hanover and Frankfurt will run hourly from Hauptbahnhof, while Munich services via Hanover, Kassel, Würzburg and Fulda will operate only every two hours from Harburg, skipping Dammtor and Hauptbahnhof entirely. Around one third of those connections will start from Harburg.

Road closures add pressure

From 17 July the junction at Sternbrücke (Stresemannstrasse/Max-Brauer-Allee) will close to traffic until 31 August, with diversions over several alternative routes. Buses on lines 3, X3 and 15 will also follow diversion routes. One source reports the road closure will extend until 2 September.

The wider Altona relocation project

The bridge works are part of a larger programme to relocate Altona station roughly two kilometres north to the S-Bahn stop at Diebsteich. The new through-station will replace the current terminus and is scheduled to enter service at the end of 2029. A previous Verbindungsbahn closure last March forced long-distance trains from southern and western Germany and from Berlin to terminate at Harburg, while trains from the north started or ended at Pinneberg.