Wendlingen-Ulm high-speed railway line

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Stuttgart–Wendlingen–Ulm HSL
Length: 58 km (Wendlingen–Ulm)
Line number: 4813
State: Baden-Württemberg
Orientation: West-East
Construction: 2-track,
electrified
TUNNELa
tSBHF1
0,0 Stuttgart Hbf
tSTR
Fildertunnel (9.468 m)
TUNNELe
SBHF1
Stuttgart Flughafen
TUNNEL2
Denkendorf-Tunnel (760 m)
KRZo
Neckar-Alb-Bahn
TUNNELa
tABZrf
Neckar-Alb-Bahn
tSTR
Albvorland tunnel (8.280 m)
TUNNELe
KRZo
Teckbahn
TUNNEL2
Weilheim Tunnel (225 m)
TUNNEL1
Boßler tunnel (8.430 m)
BRÜCKE
Filstal bridge (ca. 480 m)
TUNNEL1
Steinbühl tunnel (4.770 m)
TUNNEL2
Autobahn Tunnel (378 m)
TUNNEL2
Widderstall Tunnel (963 m)
TUNNEL2
AS Merklingen Tunnel (424 m)
TUNNEL2
Imberg Tunnel (499 m)
TUNNEL1
Albabstiegs Tunnel (5.950 m)
ABZrg
Filsbahn
BHF
Ulm Hbf
STR
Transition to the Ulm–München line
BRÜCKE
Danube bridge

Wendlingen-Ulm high-speed line is a proposed high-speed railway line crossing the Swabian Alb with speeds of up to 250  km/h and will run in many sections parallel to the A 8. In the east the line will connect with the Neu-Ulm station opened on 18 March 2007, in the west to the Stuttgart 21 project.

As a section of the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded line, the Wendlingen-Ulm project is also a component of the Magistrale for Europe from Paris to Budapest, which is supported by the European Union as part of its Trans-European Networks. The European Union is providing up to 50 per cent of the planning phase of the project and is expected to fund ten per cent of its construction costs.

Contents

[edit] Project

Once opened, the travel time for high-speed traffic between Stuttgart and Ulm will be only 28 minutes rather than the current 54 minutes, if a stop at Stuttgart Airport is omitted. This is part of Deutsche Bahn's Netz 21 (network 21) concept, which envisages a reduction of the travel time between Frankfurt and Munich from over three and a half today to only two and a half hours in the future. However, this timing can only be achieved with a by-pass of Mannheim on the proposed Rhein/Main–Rhein/Neckar high-speed rail line, which would allow the travel time between Frankfurt and Stuttgart to be reduced to one hour. Deutsche Bahn has shelved the proposed bypass because of opposition to it in Mannheim.

27.1 km of the 58 km new line run in seven twin-tube tunnels. The estimated construction cost of 2 billion, is affected by the difficult geology that the tunnels will run through.[1]

[edit] Sections

The project is divided into seven planning sections:

  • Section 2.1 a/b connects Wendlingen with section 1.4 of the Stuttgart 21 project.
  • Section 2.1 c (Albvorland: Alb foothills) runs parallel with the A8, including the 8.3 km-long Albvorland tunnel.
  • Section 2.2 (Albaufstieg: Alb ascent) consists mainly of the approximately 8.8 km for the Bossler tunnel, two approximately 480  m-long bridges over the Fils valley and the approximately 4.8 km-long Steinbühl tunnel.
  • Section 2.3 (Albhochfläche: Alb highlands) runs above ground and parallel to the A8.
  • Section 2.4 (Albabstieg: Alb descent) runs through a tunnel into the city of Ulm.
  • The integration of the line with Ulm station is carried out in Section 2.5 a1.
  • Finally Section 2.5 a2 (Danube bridge) connects to the Neu-Ulm 21 project.

[edit] Construction timetable

In May 2005 it was decided to commence construction. Under the plans of DB ProjektBau (Deutsche Bahn’s construction subsidiary), if construction had commenced in autumn 2005, it would have been ready to open in 2013. However, as a result of Federal Budget cuts commencement of construction has been delayed. On July 19, 2007, it was announced by the Federal Government, the State of Baden-Württemberg and DB that the project had been officially approved. € 2.0 billion will be invested in the Wendlingen-Ulm high-speed line, along with € 2.8 billion in Stuttgart 21. Baden-Württemberg agreed to provide funds of € 950 million for the Wendlingen-Ulm line, but the Federal Government will not provide funding for it before 2016. This agreement is expected to bring forward the commencement of construction from 2016 to 2010 and completion to 2020.[2][3][4][5]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ 27 Kilometer Tunnel durch schwieriges Gestein, Stuttgarter Nachrichten of 4 October 2006 (German)
  2. ^ "Einigung auf Finanzierung von Stuttgart 21", SWR3 Radio news, 19 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-20. (German) 
  3. ^ "Finanzierung für Stuttgart 21 steht", Spiegel online, 19 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-20. (German) 
  4. ^ Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (19 July 2007). "Tiefensee: Durchbruch für die Neubaustrecke Stuttgart - Ulm - Augsburg und "Stuttgart 21"" (in German). Press release. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  5. ^ Memorandum of Understanding (pdf) (German). Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs (19 July 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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