March 26, 2025

Shortage of skilled labour leads to restrictions in local rail passenger transport

Due to staff shortages at the railroad companies and a lack of vehicle availability, there will also be restrictions in the timetable in the coming weeks. The aim is to reduce short-term staff-related train cancellations to a minimum and to create a limited but reliable service.

There are currently timetable adjustments on the following lines:

Line S 2:

The line will continue to run between Dortmund main station and Dortmund-Mengede only every 30 minutes. This means that there will no longer be a 15-minute interval at peak times on Mondays to Fridays. Scheduled operation is planned at weekends.

Line S 28:

The Mettmann Stadtwald - Wuppertal Hbf section will be served by buses Monday to Friday during the day until around 8.30 pm and all day on Saturdays and Sundays until further notice.

Line S 68:

This line will not be running until further notice. Please switch to lines S 6 and S 8.

RE 3 line:

Cancellation of individual journeys during the day until further notice
From Monday to Friday, individual journeys will be operated by TRI with replacement trains during the day.
The line will not run at night from approx. 9 pm to approx. 5 am until further notice. Please switch to the parallel SPNV lines at these times.

RE 4 line:

The morning peak-period services from Aachen to Düsseldorf and in the afternoon from Düsseldorf to Aachen will not be running until further notice.
The night journeys at weekends between Düsseldorf and Hagen will not be running until further notice.

RE 6 line (RRX):

Until further notice, this line will only run daily until approx. 10 pm. Please switch to the RE 1 (RRX) line.
Until further notice, the Düsseldorf - Cologne/Bonn Airport section will only be served between approx. 5 am (Mondays - Fridays) or 9 am (weekends, public holidays) and approx. 9 pm. Please switch to the S 11 line.
From Mondays to Fridays, there is a morning journey from Cologne main station to Düsseldorf (and onwards as RE 3 to Hamm) and an evening journey from Düsseldorf main station (coming as RE 3 from Hamm) to Cologne main station with replacement trains by TRI.

RE 7 line:

Until further notice, the line will only run daily until around 9 p.m., also due to a large number of night-time construction sites spread along the route.
In addition, individual journeys will be cancelled in the early hours of the morning.
Between Krefeld and Cologne, a limited train service with replacement trains will be operated by TRI after 9 pm on Mondays to Fridays.
Buses run daily between Cologne and Krefeld and between Hagen and Hamm in the evening and at night; on the other sections of the line, please switch to other lines (especially RE 4, RB 48, S 8, S 11).

RE 11 line (RRX):

The Düsseldorf - Hamm section will only be operated with six journeys in each direction until further notice. These journeys will once again run continuously to/from Paderborn/Kassel.
Scheduled services are planned on the Hamm - Kassel section.

RE 13 line:

Until further notice, this line will only run every 2 hours for the most part.
On the Mönchengladbach - Venlo section, additional buses will run.

RE 44 line:

The line will not be running until further notice.
Buses will run on the Bottrop - Oberhausen section. Buses will run continuously between Bottrop and Duisburg-Ruhrort (lines RE 44/RB 36).
On the Oberhausen - Duisburg - Moers section, please switch to the other regional rail services.

RE 47 line:

This line will be served by buses until further notice.

Line RB 36:

The line will be served by buses until further notice. The buses will run continuously between Duisburg-Ruhrort and Bottrop (lines RE 44/RB 36).

Further up-to-date information on the lines can be found at zuginfo.nrw

Shortage of skilled labour leads to restrictions in regional rail transport