Planning study: Chemnitz - Leipzig line electrified and partially double-tracked
Minister of Economic Affairs presents the results of the study at the Initiative Fernbahnanbindung - Mayor Ludwig: Variant is an acceptable compromise - Invitation to railway boss Grube
The Chemnitz - Leipzig line is to be electrified and at least partially double-tracked. This is the result of the planning study by the Free State of Saxony and Deutsche Bahn, which Minister of Economic Affairs Sven Morlok presented today in Chemnitz City Hall to Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig and the Initiative Fernbahnanbindung with representatives from business, politics, science, culture and sport, the city and the region.
However, the planning study is only an early procedural step for the connection to the long-distance railway network that the Chemnitz industrial region has been calling for for years: it forms the basis for further planning and the preparation of the necessary planning approval documents. Only after the planning approval procedure and clarification of the financing could the expansion of the line actually begin, the costs of which were estimated at around 250 million euros in the planning study.
"The study now available is a basis that we can continue to work with. The proposed option is an acceptable compromise because it ensures that the city of Chemnitz is reconnected to long-distance transport," said Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig. "Nevertheless, it must be clarified how individual project steps can be accelerated and, for example, processed in parallel."
The timetable presented currently assumes at least eight years until commissioning.
It is also important that all participants in the dialogue support the project and drive it forward, as nothing will progress on its own. This applies all the more due to the shared responsibility for the project between the federal government, Deutsche Bahn AG and the Free State of Saxony.
On behalf of the initiative, Mayor Barbara Ludwig will once again invite the CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, Dr Rüdiger Grube, to Chemnitz in the autumn to discuss the next steps.
According to Minister Morlok, the Free State of Bavaria will also approach Deutsche Bahn AG in order to reach a financing agreement for the design and approval planning by the autumn. "This is possible with good will," the Minister told the committee today, "and we have this good will." It is also conceivable that the Free State, which financed the planning study, will contribute to the costs of further planning.
Keyword long-distance railway link initiative
Representatives from business, politics, science, culture and sport have been campaigning in this committee for several years for a modern, efficient long-distance rail link that reflects the economic power and importance of the Chemnitz regional centre and the entire industrial region with its 1.6 million people. At the invitation of Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig, members of parliament, entrepreneurs, the presidents of the chambers, the rector of the Technical University and neighbouring universities, the districts of the regional convention, the industrial association and other associations, among others, meet in the circle to repeatedly put the issue on the agenda.