Hamburg-Hanover route: Bahn should decide | NDR.de – News
Status: 05.01.2023 7:43 p.m
New build or expansion? The answer to this question about the Hamburg-Hanover railway line has been debated for years – the federal government sees the ball in the middle of the track and demands a decision.
The Federal Ministry of Transport, headed by Volker Wissing (FDP), said it was the task of DB Netz to develop a preferred economic option. Lower Saxony’s Transport Minister Olaf Lies (SPD) meanwhile insisted on sticking to agreements. He referred to the “North Rail Dialogue Forum” from 2015. At that time, the majority had voted in favor of the “Alpha E” variant and thus an expansion. “If we had acted consistently, the track could have been further,” said Lies.
Goal: Reduce travel time by up to 20 minutes
According to the Federal Ministry, the railways submitted a comparison of four possible routes at the end of December. Now that “ask for specification and naming of a preferred variant,” as a railway spokesman said. The railway, the federal government and the state are in exchange. Roughly speaking, it is a question of new construction or expansion, with two different routes for new construction and three variants for expansion being up for debate. The aim is to reduce travel time by up to 20 minutes.
No specific schedule
It remains questionable whether the time for the final decision will be extended by the federal government’s demand: “A concrete timetable for determining the variant to be pursued cannot yet be given,” said Transport Minister Wissing.
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