Status: 28.04.2023 00:01
For more than 50,000 passengers a day, being on the move with the subway in the east of Hamburg soon means switching to the replacement service. Due to the extension of the U4, a section of the route will be closed for almost a year from Wednesday next week. The first closures have been in place since last night.
It is an XXL project: In order to extend the U4 to the Horner Geest, two tunnels for the U2 and the U4, one on top of the other, have to be built near the Horner Rennbahn. At the beginning of this year, a section on the route of the two lines was therefore closed for weeks. From Wednesday, May 3rd, there will be no more trains between the Rauhes Haus and Legienstraße stops – until April 2024.
Numerous buses for replacement traffic
During peak hours, articulated buses commute on this section every three minutes, and there is also a direct bus every two minutes between Billstedt and the Rauhes Haus stop. A new access is currently being built there, and the buses will then stop almost directly at the platform. And to make them move faster, all the traffic lights along the route will also be reprogrammed. The Hochbahn will be using additional vehicles on two regular bus routes – the 23 and the 213 – during the closure, and two new Xpress bus routes have also been set up. Depending on the traffic situation, passengers have to calculate up to 20 minutes more travel time due to the closure.
Blockages even during preparatory work
There are already closures due to preparatory work. The route from Berliner Tor to Billstedt was closed last night. From today to Monday, the trains between the Berliner Tor and Horner Rennbahn stops will be canceled. On Tuesday, May 2nd, there will be no trains between Rauhes Haus and Billstedt. There is also a replacement bus service for these closures.
The U4 extension should be completed by the end of 2026
So far, the U4 connects Hafencity and the city center and then runs on the route of the U2 via the Horner Rennbahn in the direction of Billstedt. In the future, it will serve the two newly built stops Stoltenstraße and Horner Geest behind the Horner Rennbahn in a north-easterly direction on a 1.9-kilometer route. By the end of 2026, 13,000 people in Hamburg should be able to reach the subway network on foot thanks to the U4 extension.
Further information
