Closure and start of construction: stages of the Rhine Valley Railway 2024

Traffic - Closure and start of construction: stages of the Rhine Valley Railway 2024

Deutsche Bahn (DB) wants to reach important milestones in the billion-euro expansion of the Rhine Valley Railway between Karlsruhe and Basel in the new year. In order to complete the southern connection of the Rastatt tunnel, a full closure is planned for the summer, as the responsible project manager at Deutsche Bahn (DB), Philipp Langefeld, told the German Press Agency in Karlsruhe.

"For passenger traffic, there will be a rail replacement service with buses between Baden-Baden and Rastatt for around three weeks in August," Langefeld announced. Freight trains will be rerouted over a wide area. "It's not every day that something like this is done. But it is the better option," he added. "Otherwise we would have had to make around 50 individual closures, for example at weekends."

In August 2017, there was an accident in the tunnel during the construction of the underpass under the existing Rhine Valley Railway. The tracks above sank, bringing traffic to a standstill for weeks. To limit the damage, workers pumped large quantities of concrete into the tube where the tunnel boring machine was still stuck. The work there was considerably delayed. The railroad is also working this year and next year in the area where the concreted-in tunnel boring machine is being dismantled, as Langefeld said. "The aim is for the section with the Rastatt Tunnel to be completed by the end of 2026."

Over 14 billion euros in investment

The federal government and DB are investing around 14.2 billion euros in the four-track expansion of the approximately 200-kilometer route in the Rhine Valley. In future, trains should travel faster and be more punctual on this very busy route. The individual construction phases are at different stages of progress. The aim is to be finished by 2041. The demands are high, including in terms of nature conservation and environmental protection. For example, the environmental organization BUND is calling for crossing options for the very rare lynx on the A5 freeway and the Rhine Valley railroad.

Movement near Freiburg

DB wants to start construction in the new year on the section between Riegel and March to the north-west of Freiburg: "Things are now slowly getting underway in the Freiburg region. And this will be really visible in 2025," said Langefeld. The basis for this is the planning permission (so-called planning approval decision) for this area, which the railroad has now received, according to information from Tuesday. It is the first of nine planning approval sections that the Federal Railway Authority has to approve individually. In order to relieve the burden on local residents, freight traffic is to run on two new tracks along the A5 highway in future.

"This is a huge step," said Christoph Klenert, the DB manager responsible for project communication. "We probably won't see excavators on a large scale in 2024, at most selective construction preparations," he added. In the next step, Deutsche Bahn intends to tender and award construction services in several packages.

For noise protection, the railroad is erecting noise barriers along 13.5 kilometers of the route. "The construction of noise protection galleries along a railroad line is a nationwide first," the company announced. These are highly effective noise barriers with a roof in the direction of the tracks.

Tunnel in Offenburg

The planning and approval documents for the Offenburg tunnel are to be submitted in the new year. With a length of around eleven kilometers, it is the largest single structure in the project - it will primarily be used for freight traffic, as Klenert said. The documents are then expected to be published in the second half of the year so that citizens and local authorities can submit their objections and comments.

Protests in the region against the major project had led to considerable delays in some cases. Freight traffic is now to run parallel to the highway south of Offenburg.

Another full closure - but in the distant future

For the section between the south of Offenburg (Ortenau district) to Kenzingen (Emmendingen district), citizens have already been informed, as Klenert reported. The existing Rheintalbahn is to be upgraded for speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour - in effect, this means building new tracks there.

"People were astonished," said Klenert. However, the best solution would be to close around 30 kilometers of the line for five years. "We favor this solution." There will then be a replacement service with buses. According to plans, work on the rail route through municipalities such as Lahr will run from 2036 to 2041. "It's a new trend not to maintain rail traffic at all costs during construction work." The route for freight traffic along the highway is to be built before then, from 2029 to 2035.

The irritating issue of delays

Punctuality of trains on the busy route is an ongoing issue. Delays are particularly noticeable in Switzerland. A DB spokeswoman said that in the event of major delays to trains from Germany, a replacement train is deployed from Basel for passengers to transfer to. She added that the situation in cross-border traffic between the two countries does not meet self-imposed requirements.

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