Partner of the Stuttgart-Ulm rail project
The connection from Stuttgart to Ulm is currently the most serious bottleneck in the priority EU project "Paris-Strasbourg-Stuttgart-Vienna-Bratislava". The 1382-kilometre long “Magistrale for Europe” is Project No. 17 in the “Trans-European Network” (TEN) programme. The EU Member states and the EU are investing approx. EUR 23 billion in upgrading these networks. Implementation of the Stuttgart – Ulm section will mean that by 2019/2020 it will be possible to run trains from Paris to Munich at high speeds along almost the entire line. This will eliminate one of the worst bottlenecks on the European corridor and fulfil the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Ministers of Transport of France, German, Austria and Slovakia on 9 June 2006, in which they undertook to implement the entire line as soon as possible.
Effective modal shift from road to rail
The capacities on the present line between Stuttgart and Ulm are completely exhausted, the technical status is obsolete; 70 kilometres per hour, as prescribed on the Geislinger Steige ascent, are undoubtedly an absolute negative record for a high-speed line within the Trans-European network. The attractiveness of the new lines which will result from the Stuttgart – Ulm rail project will help to encourage an effective modal shift from road to rail. That benefit should also be included in the calculations: less CO2, fewer fine particulates, lower energy consumption. It will relieve congestion on European trunk route E 52 (the A8 motorway). The additional capacities generated by the new railway line will also benefit freight traffic. The tunnelled line up the Swabian Alb mountains, together with the modal shift to rail, will also have a positive effect on the Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation. Accordingly, the EU is prepared to support the Paris-Strasbourg/Kehl-Stuttgart-Ulm-Munich-Vienna-Bratislava corridor with a total of EUR 438.35 million as part of the TEN multi-annual programme for 2007-2013. EUR 101.45 million of that sum are earmarked for elimination of the Ulm – Wendlingen bottleneck and EUR 114.47 million for the Stuttgart – Wendlingen project.
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