Nuremberg-Erfurt high-speed rail line

The 83 km long line is part of the existing railway highway circuit from Nuremberg via Saalfeld to Halle and is being upgraded to a maximum speed up to 230 km/h trains. In addition the entire route is being converted to four tracks. Between Nuremberg and Forchheim this is being carried out as part of the development of the Nuremberg S-Bahn. Seven kilometers of the overall length of the upgraded line will consist of two planned tunnels, in addition two new viaducts are planned with a total length of 400 m.

Platforms in Nuremberg station must be adapted for the S-Bahn. A goods line is being built between the Nuremberg marshalling yard and Eltersdorf including a 6,800 metre-long tunnel under Fürth, avoiding conflicts between passenger and goods trains in Fürth station. Construction work on the Nürnberg-Fürth section began with the turning of the first sod on 10 August 2006 and is due to be completed by the end of 2010. In the future one track will be used by S-Bahn services and the other three will be used by regional and long-distance trains. All four tracks operate in both directions and lead directly into Nuremberg station. Other measures to be carried out on the route include the removal of level crossings. Planning has not been completed on some parts of the line.

The Nürnberg-Bamberg line is well suited to development as a high-speed line, as it runs in the broad and straight Regnitz valley and in particular between Erlangen and Bamberg is nearly flat and has wide curves. The Forchheim-Bamberg section already permits a constant maximum speed of 160 km/h for all services, and was often used in the past for test runs with new trains. Northeast of Bamberg the line runs through the Main valley, which is also very flat. Between Fürth and Erlangen there are sharper curves, particularly between Fürth and Fürth-Unterfarrnbach and north of Vach station where the line passes underneath the A 73 autobahn, where the maximum speed is 140 km/h. Between Fürth and Erlangen construction will be necessary to straighten the line and to remove many level crossings.

Cost

The total costs of the project is estimated to be € 4.583 billion (May 2006 prices). Up to 31 December 2005, about euro 705 million had been invested into the project, about € 550 million of it into the new line.

Notes

References

*de|Schnellfahrstrecke Nürnberg–Erfurt

External links

* [http://mgrobe2.free.fr/nbserfurtnuernberg.pdf "Planungsgesellschaft Bahnbau Deutsche Einheit mbH", Brochrre on the new line, January 1995] (PDF, 15 pages, 2,1 MB) de icon
* [http://www.db.de/site/bahn/de/unternehmen/bahnwelt/bauprojekte/vde/nuernberg__erfurt__leipzig__berlin.html Information from Deutsche Bahn] and [http://www.db.de/site/shared/de/dateianhaenge/infomaterial/bauprojekte/bauprojekte__ebensfeld__erfurt__streckenkarte.pdf Ebensfeld–Erfurt map and elevation] ] (PDF, 6,3 MB) de icon
* [http://www.bmvbw.de/static/Schiene2004/L09.pdf Excerpt from Federal transport plan] (PDF) de icon
* [http://www.bmvbs.de/-,1461.13426/Die-Neubaustrecke-Koeln-Rhein-.htm Information from the site of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Construction and urban development] de icon
* [http://www.rbd-erfurt.de/Strecken1/EbensfeldErfurt/EbensfeldErfurt.htm Private site with distances and map] de icon