German railways shuts main line for five months for revamp

BERLIN - Germany's state railways will on Monday close for five months a main line connecting the financial centre of Frankfurt with the south to carry out a 1.3 billion euro ($1.4 billion) upgrade to creaking infrastructure. WHY IT'S IMPORTANTTracks between Frankfurt and Mannheim are congested, and delays can have a major impact elsewhere in Germany's 33,000-kilometre (20,000-mile) network, as well as on trains to neighbouring countries like Switzerland and France.The state of German railways h