Expansion of the Franconia-Saxony main line: progress is being made

After decades of wrangling over a more modern train connection between Nuremberg and Saxony, there is now movement on the issue: the Bundestag's budget committee has cleared the way to plan the electrification of the section between Nuremberg and Schnabelwaid in the district of Bayreuth. This was announced by several members of parliament from the region. This means that another section of the Franconia-Saxony main line can be electrified in future.

"We are thus taking a decisive step forward so that Germany's largest diesel island is finally a thing of the past," said CSU MP Jonas Geissler, spokesperson for the Franconia-Saxony Main Line parliamentary group. "I am more than grateful to the Budget Committee today because the Gordian knot for Bavaria's most important rail project has finally been cut. Now we can get started."

"It's worth sticking with it"

The future of the project had been debated for a long time because, according to the federal government, electrification was not economically viable. The plans were therefore put on ice. However, a new review of the economic viability brought a positive result.

The planning contract that has now been awarded shows: "It's worth sticking with it," said Silke Launert (CSU), Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, from Bayreuth. For years, politicians from the region have been calling across party lines for the route to be upgraded so that electric locomotives can run there instead of diesel locomotives.

Bridge closures fuel the issue

A few weeks ago, several railroad bridges had to be closed on the Franconia-Saxony Main Line between Pegnitz (Bayreuth district) and Nuremberg, which further fuelled the discussion about modernizing the line.

The Franconia-Saxony Main Line covers the transport area between Nuremberg and Dresden as well as via Marktredwitz towards the Czech Republic. It is of the greatest infrastructural importance for the region, the MPs added.

The Free State of Bavaria has already announced that it will pay for the electrification of the section between Schnabelwaid and Bayreuth. With the current decision by the Budget Committee, continuous electrification between Nuremberg and Bayreuth could be realized. The aim is still to electrify the entire line as far as Hof. The corresponding technology is already available from Dresden to Hof.