Study for German rail connection to Fehmarn Belt link awarded EU grant

The European Union will support to the tune of €14.6 million from the TEN-T Programme a study which will pave the way for the construction of a new rail line from Hamburg north to the city of Bad Oldesloe.

The study, selected for funding under the 2012 TEN-T Multi-Annual Call, concerns the preliminary and final design phases for the construction of a new 48 km railway track between Hamburg and Bad Oldesloe (near Lübeck). It also includes the preparation of the necessary applications for construction. The new rail track will be built parallel to the existing one, covering the southern German access to the “Railway axis Fehmarn belt” (TEN-T Priority Project 20).

The study will contribute to improving operations on PP20, establishing key links and interconnections as well as eliminating bottlenecks. The additional rail track and the unbundling of the traffic flows will lead to a more efficient use of the existing capacities and will hence prevent delays. A shift of traffic flows from road to rail is also to be expected, leading to an improvement in the environmental performance of transport in the region and Germany as a whole.

The studies will be monitored by the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) and are set to be completed by the end of 2014.