Middle Rhine Valley Railway: May-June railway repairs

Posted by Russ (Paradise) on 04/26/25 01:21 PM

The DB train schedules are showing lots of irregularities on Germany's most scenic train route between May 2 and June 13 for Mainz - Koblenz and Koblenz - Cologne, where repairs will be underway. Buses are being scheduled to cover individual sections of track which become unusuable. Some scheduling changes have yet to be made, so what you see at the DB site for these dates right now is probably unreliable.

The notices below (in German) provide most of the details.

https://www.zuginfo.nrw/download/1743602901233_Allgemeine_Fahrgastinfo_RB26.pdf
https://www.zuginfo.nrw/?msg=114885

Between Mainz and Koblenz, the repairs and the schedule irregularites are on the "LEFT SIDE" Rhine railway, where the popular towns of Bingen, Bacharach, Oberwesel, St Goar (Rheinfels Castle) and Boppard are situated.

If you are coming from FRA or Frankfurt to the Middle Rhine area, as many do, it might be wise to use the "RIGHT SIDE" railway that follows the Rhine River from Frankfurt Hbf (the main station) to Koblenz via Wiesbaden and Rüdesheim. (From FRA, use the express bus or train to Frankfurt Hbf first.)

Right side railway: https://rheingaulinie.de/files/rheingaulinie/files/Fahrplan/fahrplan.png

If you are looking to book in towns with easier train access during this period, then Rüdesheim, Kaub, St Goarshausen, Braubach, or other right-side towns might be best. From the right side, you can still visit some of the towns on the left side; Rüdesheim, St Goarshausen, and Filsen are blessed with both train stations AND ferry crossings, which make Bingen, St Goar, and Boppard easy to reach:

Filsen > Boppard ferry
St Goarshausen > St Goar ferry
Rüdesheim > Bingen passenger ferry (Bingen-Rüdesheimer)

And of course, the Rhine Cruise day boats by K-D and Bingen-Rüdesheimer also serve Rhine towns on both sides of the river.

Because the right-side railway also serves Koblenz, those heading to Burg Eltz or Mosel River destinations may want to use this railway instead of the impacted left side route. To find schedules from Frankfurt to places like Cochem, Trier, or "Burg Eltz, Wierschem" at the DB site via the right-side railway, just enter an intermediary right-side town (like Kaub) as a stopover with 00:00 stopover time.

Posted by Russ OP

Paradise

04/29/25 10:25 AM

7383 posts

That ICE route connecting Frankfurt/FRA to Cologne was built around 20 years ago to reduce noise and traffic in the Rhine Valley and to shorten the otherwise long journey along the river. It avoids the valley entirely and is generally the right choice if you only need to get from one city to the other.

That said, using it can cost a bundle if saver fares are unavailable or have approached the full-price fare for this route; currently that price is $115+ each, ballpark, for a one-way trip - a strong motivation for using the slower river route on a D-Ticket or a day pass like the Day Ticket for Germany (around $35 each in the 2-person version.)

Also, flying into FRA with Cologne as a destination often forces passengers into a full-price fare for the ICE route... saver fares for the ICE are train-specific, and missing your train (a strong possibiliity given the unpredictable details of airports and flights) makes a saver fare ticket worthless.

Railpass holders heading straight to Cologne, OTOH, can just hop on the ICE at FRA whenever they happen to show up. Very cool.

So one's individual circumstances play into this route decision, for sure.

RB or S-Bahn from Frankfurt to Mainz, followed by RBs or REs along the Rhein to Köln.

Those options aren't the fastest ones; for a shorter ride, look into the Regional Express-only options with one change in Koblenz. Random-date check of departure times through 20:00 for RE + RE trips from the DB site for FRA airport > Rhine Valley > Cologne Hbf:

7:09
9:24
11:24
13:24
15:24
17:24
19:24

NOTE: These RE trains run along the WEST bank of the Rhine, and the times shown are from the normal schedule... so during the current period of repair work on this side of the river, do not count on timely arrival - all bets are off!