GERMAN Rail (DB) has announced it will fully reconstruct a 14km section of the Ahr Valley Railway between Walporzheim and Ahrbrück that was destroyed by flooding in 2021, with the renewed section due to reopen in 2025.
Single-track operation resumed on the first part of the 28km line between Remagen and Ahrweiler in November 2021, with these services continuing to Walporzheim in December 2022. Buses continue to replace trains on the remainder of the line.
The new line will be electrified, with new digital interlockings to allow services to operate every 20 minutes between Remagen and Ahrbrück. DB will also track double a 700m-long section of line in Dernaum, and will build a larger station with two platforms in Altenahr, where the old platform was completely washed away by the flood.
The project includes laying 16km of new track, installing eight new turnouts, repairing six stations and seven level crossings, and rebuilding nine new bridges over the river Ahr, along with nearly all supporting structures and embankments. DB says the new infrastructure will be more resilient to extreme weather events, with the new bridges designed without central pillars in the river.
DB says completing the reconstruction within two years will be possible due to the cooperation between the federal government, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and the municipalities, as well as the introduction of legal exemptions in the flooded areas, which include simplified conditions to meet planning laws and award contracts.
DB and the Rhineland-Palatinate State Mobility Office are also building five cycle path bridges between Walporzheim and Altenahr.
The rebuilding of the line will be financed by the federal government, while the €92m cost of electrification is being funded by €20m from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate with the federal government providing the remaining funding.
