Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG and Winfried Hermann, Baden-Württemberg Minister of Transport, officially celebrated the completion of drilling works on the Fildertunnel, the largest tunnel of the Stuttgart-Ulm railway project.
The 9.5 km-long tunnel will be the longest railway tunnel of its kind in Germany. This marks another milestone in the completion of the Stuttgart – Ulm railway line, which is expected to significantly reduce travel times between the two cities.
“Germany needs a strong track. The Stuttgart-Ulm railway project makes an important contribution to this. It will connect millions of people – in the region, in Baden-Württemberg, in Germany and throughout Europe. The Fildertunnel as a hinge between the basin, the airport and the new line is an essential part of the project, ” Richard Lutz said.
The Fildertunnel connects the main station in this valley to the Filder region, a rolling plateau some 155 m higher than the city. Trains will be able to travel at speeds of up to 100 km/h at the point where the main station leads into the tunnel, then at 160 km/h in the lower half and at 250 km/h in its upper section.
EUR 720 million was the value of the Fildertunnel.
The Stuttgart–Ulm rail project will reconfigure the Stuttgart rail node and will also consists of the construction of a new line between Wendlingen and Ulm.
The Stuttgart-Ulm project is the biggest project supported by the CEF in Germany. The EU is supporting the project with a total sum of EUR 1.27 billion. Almost EUR 600 million was provided under the 2014 CEF Transport call to upgrade the Stuttgart rail node. EUR 2 billion represented the total eligible costs and includes the construction of the northern and southern connection of the new central station to its new tunnel feeder lines. These include the tunnel between new Central Station and Stuttgart Airport (Fildertunnel), the new line between Stuttgart Airport and the new line Wendlingen-Ulm and the tunnel feeder lines with the existing line in the direction of Karlsruhe/Mannheim, as well as in the direction of Nürnberg including the new line Northern S-Bahn (line Feuerbach/ Bad Cannstatt).
For the construction of Wendlingen-Ulm line, under the CEF Transport 2014 call was allotted EUR 433 million, representing 30% of the total eligible costs, valuated at EUR 1.44 billion. The new Wendlingen–Ulm section encompasses a route length of 59.6 km, of which 30.2 km through tunnels. The line will be designed for mixed traffic and the route links to the “Stuttgart 21” project in the west and to the “Neu-Ulm 21” project in the east.
Through the new Wendlingen–Ulm section, together with “Stuttgart 21”, a 24-minute reduction in travel times will be implemented for passenger traffic from Stuttgart to Ulm.
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