Lower Saxony and Drenthe reactivate Neuenhaus–Coevorden railway

The roughly 28 km Neuenhaus–Coevorden line is the last section of the cross-border Bad Bentheim–Coevorden link and is due to start regular hourly service on 11 December 2026 (13 December 2026 was still given in April); after almost 90 years, passenger trains will run there regularly again. Some EUR 50 million is available for the work from German federal funds, Lower Saxony, the province of Drenthe and the Dutch state; at Coevorden ProRail, on behalf of the province, has Dura Vermeer build an extra platform with a lift and a new west entrance and install a German train protection system (full closure from 14 to 23 November 2026). On 27 August 2026 the swing bridge over the Coevorden–Piccardie canal, more than 100 years old, was reinstated after ten months of modernisation (about EUR 2 million, paid by the Netherlands); it will be remote-controlled from the Nordhorn signal box. Construction at Coevorden had begun with the first ground-breaking, according to the report of 20 April 2026. (LOK Report, 31 Aug 2026; earlier report of 20 Apr 2026)