After the closure of two important railway lines in North Rhine-Westphalia, the company is trying to divert long-distance trains between Rhineland and Westphalia over a wide area. A railway spokesman said on Monday that it is currently being looked at where there is still room for additional trains in the rail network.
Many ICEs from Cologne and Düsseldorf were routed via Gelsenkirchen and the northern Ruhr area to Dortmund and Hamm. “Ultimately there is now only this one route,” said the spokesman.
In Wuppertal, a freight car derailed during shunting work on Monday morning and damaged two catenary masts. The important east-west axis from Wuppertal to Hagen is completely closed until further notice, said the railway spokesman.
At the same time, further north, the east-west connection from Duisburg via Essen to Dortmund is closed for long-distance traffic due to construction work – many long-distance trains should therefore actually be diverted via Wuppertal.