DB builds Hall 1 at Cottbus ICE depot, 1,200 jobs at full capacity

DB is extending its ICE maintenance depot in Cottbus with Hall 1, over 500 m long (ground-breaking March 2024); at full capacity it creates 1,200 additional industrial and training jobs, and about 700 people work at the depot today. The hall triples overhaul capacity for the ICE 4, and heavy IS 700 maintenance there is to take about three weeks, roughly half the time at other sites. Structural completion is planned for the end of 2026 and the first train is due in February 2027. At the eighth meeting of the task force on 6 July 2026 the schedule was reported as on track; double-tracking of Lübbenau–Cottbus is due to start in December 2026. (LOK Report, 6 Jul 2026; second source: Deutsche Bahn, 6 Jul 2026)