Restrictions on the Donautalbahn: How to get to your destination safely!

Restrictions on the Donautalbahn: How to get to your destination safely!

From February 6, 2026, passengers on the Danube Valley Railway between Neustadt (Donau) and Regensburg must expect significant restrictions. These are necessary due to a general renovation of DB InfraGO, which will last until July 11, 2026. During this time, local rail passenger transport on the route will be switched to every two hours. Regional trains currently run every hour on this railway line; The new concept will be supplemented by replacement bus services in order to maintain the usual hourly service, as sinzing.de reports.

The general renovation is part of a comprehensive capacity adjustment, which is necessary, among other things, due to the increased freight traffic on the route. Although the Danube Valley Railway itself is not directly affected, freight traffic running to the east of it has to be rerouted, which leads to overloading of the route. DB InfraGO sees itself as responsible for reducing passenger rail traffic on the congested route accordingly.

Current and future construction work

Deutsche Bahn began renovation work on the Danube Valley Railway between Regensburg and Ingolstadt in July 2023, which lasted until September 2, 2023. A total of around 23 million euros were invested in this. The measures included the comprehensive replacement of fault-prone components and the barrier-free expansion of the Abensberg train station. The renovation of the railway bridge in Sinzing also included corrosion protection and the replacement of old sleepers and rails [deutschebahn.com].

The renovation work is of great importance for the region, as the Danube Valley Railway is an important traffic artery for commuters and travelers. The investments in infrastructure are intended to significantly improve the stability of train traffic in the future.

Long-term infrastructure strategy

The need for such extensive renovation measures is underpinned by the federal government's current investment plans in the area of ​​infrastructure. A total of 166 billion euros have been earmarked for the renovation of dilapidated railway lines and motorway bridges by 2029. Around 107 billion euros of this sum will flow into rail. This is an increase of 29 billion euros compared to previous plans, but the need mentioned remains 18 billion euros below the background of the currently required modernizations, as tagesschau.de reports.

Deutsche Bahn has already announced measures for the general renovation of over 40 heavily used routes. Travelers will have to adapt to restrictions during construction work, but DB promises that the focus will be on long-term goals, particularly punctuality and reliability.

For detailed information about stops and travel times during the construction period, passengers can visit the Deutsche Bahn website or the special page on rail replacement services.