Deutsche Bahn: Züge zwischen Berlin und Hannover brauchen ab Oktober 80 Minuten länger

Starting October, Deutsche Bahn passengers traveling between North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin via Hannover can expect to add nearly 1.5 hours to their journey. This change is part of a new rerouting plan for the so-called "Generalsanierung" of the Berlin-Lehrte line, which the state-owned company has now disclosed in detail. Starting October 2nd and running until December of the following year, all long-distance trains between Berlin and Hannover will be rerouted through Braunschweig and Magdeburg.

This primarily affects connections between Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia that previously took the direct route over Hannover. Consequently, the travel time will extend by 80 minutes. During peak hours, three long-distance trains in each direction are expected to operate every two hours. On the planned date of December 13th, at least a portion of long-distance trains should resume their direct route between Berlin and Hannover, traveling eastward along the main line.

However, the ongoing electrification of this alternative route is lagging significantly and is expected to continue until December 2027, a year longer than initially anticipated.