Train cancellations and delays: Two signal disruptions: Train cancellations again in Wuppertal

After a two-week signal box disruption, rail traffic is returning to normal Wuppertal again. Since Thursday morning, trains on the route between Düsseldorf and Wuppertal have been able to run as planned again. S-Bahn and regional trains are largely running on time again. A defective signal box caused problems there for two weeks.

The failure had long puzzled engineers. After the first outage on June 18th, it took a week until a source of the error was found. Technicians replaced components in a computer system – then the signal box was gradually put back into operation. But a short time later the system was defective again and rail traffic had to be stopped. Since then, components have been replaced again, said a railway spokesman. It is assumed that the system is now running stable again.

General renovation should be completed on time in a week

There are also signs of relaxation on a second route, which has demanded a lot of patience from rail customers around Wuppertal for months: the route from Cologne via Wuppertal to Hagen, after a good five months of general renovation, will be opened again for long-distance and regional trains in around a week. It is assumed that the 65 kilometer long route can be opened as planned on July 10th, the railway’s general representative, Jens Gräfer, said on Wednesday in the transport committee of the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament.

The route has been completely closed since the beginning of February for extensive renovation. All long-distance trains from Cologne to Berlin and Hamburg, for example, are rerouted via the Ruhr area. Around 200 replacement buses serve commuters in the region during peak times.

General renovations in North Rhine-Westphalia continue

Nevertheless, rail travelers will still have to prepare for a number of restrictions due to construction sites in the coming years, emphasized Gräfer. “The infrastructure is currently too old, too full and too prone to failure; this is particularly true in North Rhine-Westphalia.”

Next, the general renovation of the route on the right bank of the Rhine between Troisdorf and Wiesbaden will start on July 10th. There will be no trains there for five months either. In 2028, the routes from Hagen via Unna to Hamm and on the left bank of the Rhine from Cologne via Bonn to Koblenz are to be fundamentally renovated. Further routes followed in the years that followed – including the central railway axis from the Ruhr area Dusseldorf to Cologne.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:260702-930-319848/1