The diesel-powered Nuremberg-Marktredwitz-Hof railway line is an important connection from Bavaria to Saxony and the Czech Republic. A report by railway experts advocates increased electrification of routes.
Nuremberg/Hof (dpa/lby) – Railway experts are calling for greater electrification of railway lines – according to the Bavarian Minister of Transport, the Franconian-Saxony Magistrale should also benefit from this. In the future, the electrification of existing lines should no longer depend solely on a positive cost-benefit ratio, the Federal Government’s Rail Acceleration Commission proposes in its final report.
Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter praises this proposal and hopes that the Bavarian section of the Franconian-Saxony Magistrale from Nuremberg via Marktredwitz to Hof will also benefit from it. “We need electrification, because that’s the only way international direct connections from Nuremberg and north-eastern Bavaria via south-western Saxony, Dresden and eastern Saxony to Wroclaw or Kraków are possible,” said the CSU politician to the German Press Agency. First, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported on the minister’s request.
In its recently published final report, the Acceleration Commission proposes that the Bundestag should determine that the electrification of existing routes is in the public interest – not least because of its importance for climate protection.
This could also be important for the route between Nuremberg and Hof. Because diesel-powered trains have been running there so far. In Marktredwitz (district of Wunsiedel), the line also branches off via Schirnding to Cheb in the Czech Republic. The Saxon part of the Franconian-Saxony Magistrale, which leads to Dresden via Plauen, Zwickau and Chemnitz, has been powered by electricity from Hof for several years.
On the Bavarian side, electrification has so far failed due to a lack of profitability. Electrifying the section in the Upper Pegnitz Valley around Hersbruck (Nürnberg Landkreis) in particular is considered expensive because of the many bridges and tunnels.
The refusal to electrify the main line has been the subject of criticism for years. Bayreuth’s Lord Mayor Thomas Ebersberger had described the route as the “dirtiest railway line in Germany” because it was used on outdated locomotives and trains with particularly high diesel consumption.
The traffic light parties in the federal government had agreed in their coalition agreement to set up the Acceleration Commission. The body, which reports to the Ministry of Transport, started work in the summer. In the past few months, the commission then drew up proposals to speed up the sluggish expansion and renovation of the railway network.