Construction work disrupts rail services between Duisburg and Essen; SEV buses replace many services

Construction work between Duisburg and Essen: disruption on numerous services

From September 2026, work on overhead lines, platforms and bridges will take place in the Duisburg and Essen area. The project will be carried out in two distinct construction phases. There will be disruption to rail services. Depending on the line, passengers should expect diversions, cancelled stops, partial cancellations and rail replacement services.

An overview of the construction phases

Construction phase 1: Friday 4 September 2026 (9.00 pm) to Friday 9 October 2026 (9.00 pm):

Construction Phase 1: Friday, September 4, 2026 (9:00 p.m.) through Friday, October 9, 2026 (9:00 p.m.):

During this phase of construction, the following services are affected: RE1 (RRX), RE 2, RE 3, RE 6 (RRX), RE 11 (RRX), RE 42, RE 44, RE 49, RB 32, RB 33, RB 33, S 1 and S 3 are affected. This will result in partial service cancellations, and some services will be diverted, leading to stations being skipped. A replacement bus service (SEV) will be provided:

For lines RE 1 (RRX), RE 2 and RE 6 (RRX), buses will run every 5 minutes between Duisburg Central Station and Essen Central Station, stopping at Mülheim (Ruhr) Central Station. At night, these buses will be extended to Dortmund Central Station and will serve the stops normally served by the cancelled trains.

For lines S 1 and S 3, buses will run between Oberhausen Central Station

Duisburg Central Station and Essen West, stopping at all stations along the route.

For the RE 49 service, buses run between Oberhausen Central Station and Essen Central Station without any stops.

Passengers are asked to check their connection before setting off using the timetable enquiry service and at zuginfo.nrw , and to allow for extra journey time. The timetable changes will be published in the information media and announced via notices on the platforms.

Construction Phase 2: Friday, October 9, 2026 (9:00 p.m.) through Friday, October 30, 2026 (9:00 p.m.):

During the second phase of construction, services RE 1 (RRX), RE 2, RE 3, RE 5 (RRX), RE 6 (RRX), RE 11 (RRX), RE 19, RE 42, RE 44, RB 32, RB 33, RB 35 and S 1 will be affected by the restrictions. This will result in diversions, cancelled stops and partial service suspensions. A replacement bus service (SEV) will also be provided during this construction phase:

For services RE 1 (RRX), RE 2, RE 6 (RRX) and RE 11 (RRX), buses will run every 5 minutes between Duisburg Central Station and Essen Central Station, stopping at Mülheim (Ruhr) Central Station.

Please note that further timetable adjustments between Oberhausen and Dortmund are currently being finalised and will be published in the timetable information channels shortly.

For lines RE 5 (RRX) and RE 19, buses run between Oberhausen-Sterkrade

Oberhausen Central Station and Duisburg Central Station at 10-minute intervals during the day.

For the S 1 service, buses run between Mülheim (Ruhr)-Strum and Duisburg Central Station.

Passengers are asked to check their connection before travelling using the timetable enquiry service and at zuginfo.nrw , and to allow for extra journey time. The timetable changes will be published on information channels and announced via notices on the platforms.

Some good news: the RE 100

Whilst construction work is underway, the newly introduced RE 100 service between Essen and Düsseldorf Central Station will provide an additional connection between the two major cities in the Ruhr region from Saturday 5 September to Saturday 30 October 2026 . Find out more !

Roadworks between Düsseldorf and Cologne

Are you travelling between Düsseldorf and Cologne ? The line will be completely closed from 21 August to 4 September 2026 . After that, the S-Bahn line will remain closed until 4 December. Check here for details of your journey.

Construction work in the Düsseldorf area

Are you travelling in the Düsseldorf area? From 4 September to 2 October 2026, there will be service restrictions on services RE 4, RE 10, RE 13, RB 39, S 28 and S 68 . Find out here how this will affect your journey.