MID Saxony Transport Authority (VMS) will apply at the end of this year for planning permission to build 3.5km of new alignment that forms part of Stage 5 of the Chemnitz tram-train network.

Due for completion in 2027, Stage 5 would see tram-train services extended from Stollberg to Oelsnitz/Erzgebirge, St Egidien and Glauchau.

VMS is currently preparing planning approval documentation for the 3.5km of new alignment, which runs south from Stollberg station along a disused railway embankment and then continues west along the B 169/B 180 road to an industrial estate.

The extension would then run along Auer Strasse and cross the A 72 motorway on a new bridge, before joining the existing railway to reach Oelsnitz. The cost of new construction is €96.4m.

Extending tram-train services to Oelsnitz and on to St Egidien will require the existing railway to be upgraded, including electrification, resignalling and the construction of a new stop. Work on this upgrade is less advanced, and VMS expects to apply for the necessary planning permission in a year’s time.

Existing railway infrastructure will be electrified at 15kV ac, while on street-running sections of the Chemnitz tram-train network operate at 750 dc.

Tram-train services are planned to operate every 30 minutes between Chemnitz and Oelsnitz at peak times.

“With Stage 5, we are opening up a large region in an all-electric, transfer-free and short-interval manner, linking it with the Chemnitz metropolitan area,” says VMS managing director, Mr Mathias Korda.

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