Traffic - Rheintalbahn section closed in August
In the summer, the important Rhine Valley route between Rastatt and Baden-Baden will be closed for three weeks. The closure begins on August 9th and ends on August 30th, as a spokesperson stated. The reason for this is the construction works in the context of the billion-dollar upgrade of the Rhine Valley Railway between Karlsruhe and Basel. They deliberately scheduled the works for the holiday season in Baden-Württemberg, as it was further mentioned. "The alternative to the three-week closure would have been around 50 individual closures, which means almost every weekend for a year."
According to the spokesperson, a rail replacement service with buses will be set up, and freight traffic will be diverted. The number of people affected was not specified by the railway. Due to competition reasons, no figures were given from which one could draw conclusions about the occupancy of trains, she said. During the three-week closure, the southern end of the tunnel in Rastatt is to be connected to the railway network.
The line was already closed and a rail replacement service was set up once, at Easter weekend 2022. This went smoothly, emphasized the spokesperson. In addition, the Rastatt railway station has been made barrier-free since then, so that passengers can transfer comfortably here.
Almost seven years ago, during the construction of the underpass of the existing Rhine Valley Railway, there was an accident in the tunnel. The rails gave way, and the rail traffic was at a standstill for several weeks. In order to limit the damage, workers pumped large amounts of concrete into the pipe, in which the tunnel boring machine was still located. The works there were significantly delayed.
- Due to the scheduled three-week closure of the Rhine Valley route between Rastatt and Baden-Baden this summer, commuters from Basel to Karlsruhe might Consider alternative modes of transportation, such as using the road instead of the railroad.
- The billion-dollar upgrade of the Rhine Valley Railway between Karlsruhe and Basel includes significant construction works in Rastatt, leading to the closure of the railroad line for a period of three weeks from August 9th to August 30th.
- As an alternative to the railroad, a rail replacement service with buses will be available for commuters, although freight traffic will be diverted during this time in Baden-Württemberg.
- In addition to the railroad closure, passengers traveling through Rastatt station can take advantage of the recently completed barrier-free improvements, which were implemented after a rail replacement service was required during the Easter weekend of 2022.
