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2023-07-17 07:22:22
It is considered the last Bavarian building block on the ICE high-speed route: the Bamberg junction. It is to be expanded from two to four lanes. It was discussed for a long time, now things are finally moving forward. The cost of this is estimated at over a billion euros. The commitment to finance the expansion has been around for a long time. The official agreement will be signed on Monday. It stipulates that the federal government will bear the costs of the conversion as part of the Federal Railways Expansion Act.
Final expansion step: the Bamberg railway junction
As early as 1998, planning in the Bamberg area came to a standstill. Three years later, a coordination group was formed with representatives from the federal, state and local authorities, as well as a Bamberg citizens’ initiative. The sessions ended with numerous variants of the Bamberg railway junction. The railway held numerous events, discussions were held regarding underground or ground-level bypass variants. The focus was always on the world cultural heritage of Bamberg, which should not be obstructed by noise protection walls. In 2018, the majority of the city decided to expand the building at ground level. Nevertheless, the discussions continued. The city has to finance demands of the city with 1.85 million euros, which were not previously included in the plan approval procedure of DB Netz AG.
But now the rough planning between the railway and the city has been completed. Now let’s get down to the details. A few days ago, the city council gave its approval for the double roundregarding variant in traffic planning on Nürnberger Strasse. Associated with this is the relocation of a hardware store. A total of almost a dozen conversions, new constructions and expansions of underpasses and overpasses are planned. Since electricity, gas and water lines run there, it is now necessary to plan where and how these will be routed during the conversion phase in order to maintain the supply.
The “Bamberg railway junction” project is currently in the planning approval process. Deutsche Bahn expects the decision to be taken at the beginning of 2024. The expansion of the 8.6-kilometer route through the cathedral city will mark the end of German Unity Transport Project Number 8 on the Bavarian side. Deutsche Bahn anticipates an expansion period of at least eight years.
Four-track expansion for fast ICE traffic
The major project in Bavaria is currently focused on expanding the Nuremberg-Bamberg line and the Fürth freight train tunnel. All in all, it is regarding a four-lane expansion for the ICE traffic Munich-Berlin. For this, the fast (ICE) and the slower rail traffic (S-Bahn, freight trains, regional trains, etc.) have to roll on different tracks. Large parts of the construction work have been completed. The section from Forchheim to south of Bamberg should be completed by mid-2025. Then follows the construction of the freight train tunnel in Fürth and the railway junction in Bamberg.
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