The port of Hamburg will deal with severe rail freight traffic restrictions for almost a whole month, between 15 July and 12 August. DB InfraGO will close down routes between the Hamburg Central Station and the Harburg city district, turning crossing the Elbe River into a substantial challenge and cutting links between the mega-port and destinations towards lower Saxony and Bremen. “Freight traffic will be possible only in exceptional cases during the day,” notes DB InfraGO.

In particular, the German Infrastructure Manager underlined that the urgent closures will occur at short notice, implying that some unexpected issues might have arisen. Nevertheless, the timing is terrible for this work to be carried out. That is because rail crossings over the Elbe River have already been subject to substantial restrictions. For example, as DB InfraGO underlines, the Norderelbbrücke, which has been closed for some time and was expected to reopen last April, never met this deadline and will remain closed for now.

The July-August traffic restrictions will affect the Hamburg-Veddel line and the line between the Hamburg Central Station and the Hamburg-Norderelbbrücke rail junction. Work will focus on switch and track replacement. In addition, the German IM notified that it would simultaneously carry out bridge work over the Zollkanal, adding even more stress to port terminals and rail operators.

Freight traffic forgotten

Considering the logistical significance that the port of Hamburg has for Germany and Europe, one would expect that DB InfraGO would make strides to ensure smooth operations and alternative routes during the closure. However, this is not the case.

The IM explained that passenger trains will be highly prioritised compared to freight trains. In fact, this is not even about prioritisation since DB InfraGO clarified that freight trains will only transit in exceptional cases during the day, meaning that the port of Hamburg will practically have minimal access to rail routes towards northwestern Germany.

Specifically, DB InfraGO informed that from 15 July to 12 August, rail traffic crossing the Elbe will be available only to passenger trains between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. (16 hours per day). Between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., rail freight will have a 12-hour window to carry out operations.

Understandably, this sharp decline in capacity and flexibility is set to disrupt business. Peter Westenberger, managing director of the association Die Güterbahnen, commented on the situation: “DB InfraGO is choking off the railway crossing of Germany’s second-largest river into Germany’s second-largest city and Europe’s second-largest port for a month in order to carry out renovation work that has not yet been carried out. There are no alternatives. It is unbelievable that rail transport in Germany is so vulnerable due to its infrastructure.”

He also added: “The renovation of the rail network must be accelerated and buffered by the rapid expansion of diversion routes beforehand. On the Elbe in particular, work must urgently begin on the replacement construction of the nearest Elbe bridge in Lauenburg, including line electrification, which was called for years ago as part of the Deutschlandtakt concept, because today the first electrified crossing of the river suitable for freight trains from Hamburg is 166 kilometres away in Wittenberge.”

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