The federal and state governments are struggling to find a solution for the expansion of the northern section of the Chemnitz-Leipzig railroad line. "We are taking this connection very seriously in Berlin," said Ulrich Lange (CSU), Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport. "It's not just any old branch line. We know how important it is." The task now is to develop a coherent overall concept. Lange explained that this would also involve the extent to which the federal and state governments could each take on additional shares and combine the whole thing with other funding pots.
The line, which connects the Chemnitz region with the Leipzig rail hub and is also used by many commuters, has long been a problem child in the rail network. The second track was dismantled as reparations after the Second World War and there is no overhead line. Capacity is therefore severely limited. It is urgently necessary to change the current situation, warned the Mayor of Chemnitz, Sven Schulze (SPD). "This is a question of future viability for this region."