GERMAN Rail (DB) has started work on quadrupling a 23km section of line in Hesse, central Germany. Two extra tracks will be added between Hanau and Gelnhausen to enable separation of local services from freight and long-distance passenger traffic.
The €1.6bn project is included in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan that is financed by the federal government and includes the modernisation of six stations, the rebuilding of 24 bridges, installation of 32km of noise reduction barriers, as well as the construction of 23km of new, electrified, double-track railway. ETCS will also be installed throughout and line speeds increased to 230km/h.
The quadrupled line, which is part of the central German north-south transport artery connecting Mannheim, Frankfurt, Fulda and Erfurt is due to be completed in 2036.
Work is continuing simultaneously on plans to quadruple the line further north between Gelnhausen and Fulda. Planning approval for this section was received last year and technical preparations are underway.
The Hanau - Gelnhausen quadrupling project is part of the Frankfurt RhineMain Plus infrastructure development programme, which is being jointly progressed by the federal government, the state of Hesse, the city of Frankfurt am Main, the Rhine-Main transport authority and DB.
“We are solving a bottleneck in the rail network that has existed for many years,” says Mr Berthold Huber, DB infrastructure director. “We are creating the conditions for greater reliability and punctuality across the entire network. Expansion here will have an impact far beyond the region.”
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