The plans for the new railroad line from Dresden to Prague have cleared an important hurdle in the Bundestag. MPs voted in favor of the project in the evening, including a 30-kilometre tunnel through the Ore Mountains.
The parliamentary decision paves the way for the concrete detailed planning. However, it is likely to be several years before construction work begins - especially as state funding has not yet been secured.
The Bundestag also supported the double-track expansion of the overloaded Sylt connection and the partial new construction of the rail link between Ulm and Augsburg.
The new route to Prague is around 150 kilometers long. The centerpiece is a 30-kilometer tunnel through the Eastern Ore Mountains between Heidenau and Chabařovice. At around 18 kilometers on the German side, it would be the longest railroad tunnel in Germany. Trains currently take around 2.5 hours between Dresden and Prague. In future, the journey should be reduced to one hour.
Saxony's Infrastructure Minister Regina Kraushaar (CDU) recently spoke of a key European project. She said that the EU was prepared to provide substantial funding. This requires planning security, the state treaty with the Czech Republic and the necessary funds in the federal budget. According to the information provided, around 20 million euros are needed for the further planning steps in the 2027 federal budget.
