Return after years: thousands benefit from old railway lines!

Return after years: thousands benefit from old railway lines!

Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland - The reactivation of disabled railway lines could bring a decisive benefit for many German cities and regions. Often these routes are only a few kilometers long, but their restarting enables thousands of people to get direct access to the nationwide rail network again. A current list, which includes over 320 such potential routes with a total length of over 5,400 kilometers, was published by the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and the Allianz Pro Schiene (APS).

Martin Henke, an expert from the VDV, emphasizes that the restart of these routes could significantly promote the regional economy. "The connection to the nationwide rail network is a remedy for abdication and therefore a clearly political topic," he said. According to Henke, these reactivations would give around 3.8 million people in around 380 cities more direct access to the railways. This could be particularly important for rural regions, where many previously had no simple transport connections.

The most important affected routes

The routes in which a reactivation could benefit from a particularly large number of users include the Bottwartalbahn between Heilbronn and Marbach in Baden-Württemberg as well as the Brexbach and Holzbachtalbahn between Engers-Siershahn-Altenkirchen in Rhineland-Palatinate. These connections could not only improve accessibility, but also to increase mobility for the residents of the affected areas.

The two associations call for a rapid procedure for the reactivations. In the past year, not a single kilometer of a disused railway line was reactivated, and around 30 kilometers are planned for the current year. For 2025, around 200 kilometers will be expected, which is a significant increase.

The financing of the reactivation projects is largely supported by the federal government, which bears up to 90 percent of the costs in accordance with the municipal traffic financing law. The funds available were recently doubled to around two billion euros. However, this support can only be granted after completing a detailed feasibility study that proves the economy of the respective projects. Despite these measures, VDV and APS require a further increase in funds to three billion euros in order to advance the reactivation even more efficiently.

The initiative for reactivating previous railway lines clearly shows how important it is not to lose sight of smaller traffic projects. Ultimately, access to the rail network could help many people increase their mobility and thereby improve their quality of life. A comprehensive report on this offers www.borkenerzeitung.de .