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Route chaos 2026: RMV fights against failures and construction work!
Find out the current developments in the Rhine-Main transport association on November 17th, 2025: construction work, timetable changes and price increases.
Route chaos 2026: RMV fights against failures and construction work!
The situation for commuters and travelers remains tense in the Rhine-Main Transport Association (RMV). There is hardly any relief to be expected in 2026 either, and that has a lot to do with ongoing construction work and organizational deficiencies at Deutsche Bahn (DB). How fr.de reports, RMV boss Knut Ringat is concerned about the current situation and is calling for better coordination from DB-InfraGO.
There is particular criticism that the DB appears to be neglecting the interests of local transport in favor of long-distance and freight transport. All the more dramatic is the fact that the RMV cannot provide services worth over 100 million euros annually, some of which is attributable to replacement traffic.
Thinning of the timetable
From December 14th, the RMV timetable will be further slimmed down. In a recent report by hessenschau.de Some routes are already affected. The RE5 regional express between Frankfurt and Fulda will be canceled, and stops such as those in Mörfelden and Mannheim-Waldhof will also be eliminated. There is talk of overloading the rail network. Ringat expresses his dissatisfaction with the ongoing restrictions and the challenges posed by the planned construction work, which will continue continuously in 2026.
“We have no other means than to expand the rail infrastructure,” emphasizes the RMV, aware of the inconvenience this causes for passengers. For example, the RB10 from Wiesbaden to Koblenz will be completely eliminated from July 2026 to December 2026, while the Mittelhessen-Express will run faster every two hours between Gießen and Frankfurt.
New year, new prices
From January 2026, ticket prices in the RMV will increase by an average of 4.75 percent. This also applies to reduced tickets and the Germany ticket. From this date, certain tickets will also be abolished, including the 9 a.m. monthly and annual tickets and the 65 Plus monthly tickets. The background to these price increases is increased costs for wages, track use and energy.
The RMV has announced that it will fix fundamental problems with the signal boxes by 2027. The company also plans to install a central control center in two years to improve communication with customers.
“The situation is challenging,” summarizes Ringat and expects that an improvement can occur in the medium term with increased efficiency and better coordination. It remains to be seen how the situation will develop, especially since DB assures that it will work on solutions if the EU legal framework allows this.