European timetables 2027

[Tester]

The Rastatt tunnel should be ready in december, adding another section of high speed line on the Karlsruhe–Basel line. It's only a small section though, reducing the overall travel time by a few minutes at most.

On that stretch, definitely a case of every little helps!

 

[NCT]

I wonder whether Rastatt tunnel will enable a proper timetable recast. As far as I can make out, the Rastatt - Offenburg section is timed for 160km/h only. It'll be nice to have everything timed at 250km/h where possible.

Also hopefully Frankfurt - Paris services can now hit Strasbourg takt times (xx15 and xx45) while occupying standard paths in Germany.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

The Rastatt tunnel should be ready in december, adding another section of high speed line on the Karlsruhe–Basel line. It's only a small section though, reducing the overall travel time by a few minutes at most.

It's mainly important for capacity: it will finally resolve the 2 track bottleneck between Rastatt and Baden-Baden, so there'll be at least 4 tracks all the way from Karlsruhe to Offenburg. RE Karlsruhe-Offenburg will be increased from 1tph to 2tph all-day, RE Karlsruhe-Freudenstadt 1tp2h to 1tph (although it'll strictly be 1tph instead of the current 1.5tph overall beyond Forbach) and between Rastatt and Baden-Baden there'll be 2 tph stopping trains (S/RB) instead of 1

 

[Watershed]

It's mainly important for capacity: it will finally resolve the 2 track bottleneck between Rastatt and Baden-Baden, so there'll be at least 4 tracks all the way from Karlsruhe to Offenburg. RE Karlsruhe-Offenburg will be increased from 1tph to 2tph all-day, RE Karlsruhe-Freudenstadt 1tp2h to 1tph (although it'll strictly be 1tph instead of the current 1.5tph overall beyond Forbach) and between Rastatt and Baden-Baden there'll be 2 tph stopping trains (S/RB) instead of 1

Presumably it is 4 track north of Karlsruhe and south of Offenburg as well?

 

[Bemined]

Not yet, certain sections are still in planning phase. Not all plans are about adding high speed tracks, some plans instead aim at moving freight trains away from the main line.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

Presumably it is 4 track north of Karlsruhe and south of Offenburg as well?

North of Karlsruhe there are two lines towards Mannheim and then Frankfurt (but still not enough, relief lines Frankfurt-Mannheim and Mannheim-Karlsruhe are being planned)

South of Offenburg the line is still 2 tracks only mostly. Supposed to be 4 tracks in the 2040s...

 

[quantinghome]

South of Offenburg the line is still 2 tracks only mostly. Supposed to be 4 tracks in the 2040s...

Glad to see this has been given top priority as befits one of the most important railway lines in Europe!

Having travelled by train from the UK to Freiburg this summer, the connection from Strasbourg to the Upper Rhine valley was a real weak point.

 

[The exile]

Glad to see this has been given top priority as befits one of the most important railway lines in Europe!

Having travelled by train from the UK to Freiburg this summer, the connection from Strasbourg to the Upper Rhine valley was a real weak point.

Have sympathy for those who have been holding their breath awaiting a capacity uplift between Hamburg and Hannover!

 

[quantinghome]

Have sympathy for those who have been holding their breath awaiting a capacity uplift between Hamburg and Hannover!

I just don't get Germany and rail investment. There are a decent amount of large ongoing projects, but they built 60% of a full high speed network and decided not finish it.

 

[The exile]

I just don't get Germany and rail investment. There are a decent amount of large ongoing projects, but they built 60% of a full high speed network and decided not finish it.

There can be few examples in Western Europe where a country has suddenly had to turn its long-term infrastructure on its head almost overnight as Germany had to in 1990. Western projects that weren’t already committed or critical to avoid immediate collapse had to be put on the back-burner for years / decades. Had reunification come a few years earlier it’s possible the first NBS (Hannover - Wuerzburg) would never have been built at all, or would at least have been further East.
On top of that, Britain didn’t invent the NIMBy - and they hold particular power when the experts are pretty evenly divided as to the solution to a problem (as has been the case with Hamburg - Hannover)

 

[Austriantrain]

There can be few examples in Western Europe where a country has suddenly had to turn its long-term infrastructure on its head almost overnight as Germany had to in 1990. Western projects that weren’t already committed or critical to avoid immediate collapse had to be put on the back-burner for years / decades. Had reunification come a few years earlier it’s possible the first NBS (Hannover - Wuerzburg) would never have been built at all, or would at least have been further East.

We have had this discussion before. Of course it was a factor in the 1990s and 2000s, but in the last 15 years the main factor was the fundamental principle of German governments "no debt" (or as little as possible). That was when money would have been cheap; they recently changed policy, but of course, debt isn't cheap anymore.

 

[The exile]

We have had this discussion before. Of course it was a factor in the 1990s and 2000s, but in the last 15 years the main factor was the fundamental principle of German governments "no debt" (or as little as possible). That was when money would have been cheap; they recently changed policy, but of course, debt isn't cheap anymore.

Funding has not been the main reason for the sclerotic progress of the Bremen / Hamburg / Hannover “Ausbau” over the last 60 (yes, really!) years. No doubt that that lack of progress has pleased those who didn’t want to spend money, even though more will be spent in the long run.

 

[Class15]

Do any high-speed lines open this December? Last December, we had Koralmbahn.

Not really high-speed but being advertised as such: Budapest - Subotica?

 

[Austriantrain]

Funding has not been the main reason for the sclerotic progress of the Bremen / Hamburg / Hannover “Ausbau” over the last 60 (yes, really!) years. No doubt that that lack of progress has pleased those who didn’t want to spend money, even though more will be spent in the long run.

Indeed, this specific one is NIMBY. There are quite a lot more of them in Germany, of course.