DB Hamburg Diversions eg: ICE 613 From 01/05/2026

[peteb]

I'm planning to get the ICE 613 Hamburg Altona to Köln on Saturday 23/05/2026. DB planner shows this as 1303 departure for dates 01/5/26 to 10/6/26 (instead of 1326). Does anyone know if the train is diverted from its usual route to account for the additional 23 minutes allowed? Departures from Bremen and south thereof look the same so the extra time is between Hamburg and Bremen. Strangely a search later in June suggests 1303 is the revised time. So how would the train run 23 minutes faster.....I'm confused!

 

[DanielB]

There is construction work ongoing between Hamburg and Hannover during that period, which also affects Hamburg - Bremen as that route is partially used for diverted trains from Hamburg to Hannover.

More details at: https://karte.bahn.de/en/detail/670e7517-fb15-4c1e-aa20-19408415867a (which indeed states that trains on the Hamburg - Bremen axis will take about 20 minutes longer.
The PDF linked at the bottom of that page states that the additional journey time is due to "geschwindigkeitsharmonisierung", that's one of those beautiful long German words which simply means it's running at a lower speed, so that all trains on that route run at approximately the same speed optimizing capacity.

 

[Austriantrain]

There is construction work ongoing between Hamburg and Hannover during that period, which also affects Hamburg - Bremen as that route is partially used for diverted trains from Hamburg to Hannover.

More details at: https://karte.bahn.de/en/detail/670e7517-fb15-4c1e-aa20-19408415867a (which indeed states that trains on the Hamburg - Bremen axis will take about 20 minutes longer.
The PDF linked at the bottom of that page states that the additional journey time is due to "geschwindigkeitsharmonisierung", that's one of those beautiful long German words which simply means it's running at a lower speed, so that all trains on that route run at approximately the same speed optimizing capacity.

Exactly the same „Geschwibdigkeitsharmonisierung“ will be in effect between Salzburg and Rosenheim in the second half of this year due to the closure of the Passau line (so that diverted freight can be accommodated more easily).

 

[peteb]

There is construction work ongoing between Hamburg and Hannover during that period, which also affects Hamburg - Bremen as that route is partially used for diverted trains from Hamburg to Hannover.

More details at: https://karte.bahn.de/en/detail/670e7517-fb15-4c1e-aa20-19408415867a (which indeed states that trains on the Hamburg - Bremen axis will take about 20 minutes longer.
The PDF linked at the bottom of that page states that the additional journey time is due to "geschwindigkeitsharmonisierung", that's one of those beautiful long German words which simply means it's running at a lower speed, so that all trains on that route run at approximately the same speed optimizing capacity.

Thanks for that clarification. I guess the diversion between Hannover and Hamburg is via Ludwigslust as per the map in the link?