The event was attended by German Rail (DB) CEO Dr Rüdiger Grube, Federal parliamentary state secretary for the Ministry of Transport Mr Enak Ferlemann, and Mr Olaf Scholz, mayor of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

The project involved the renewal of more than 120km of track, 200,000m3 of ballast, 230 points and 98 retarders. Hump shunting control technology has also been upgraded, increasing capacity to just under 4000 wagons per day.

Maschen opened in 1977 and covers a site 7km long and 700m wide. Around 150 trains operated by DB Schenker Rail arrive and depart from the yard on a typical weekday and the yard handled around 638,000 wagons in 2013.