Status: 08/27/2021 3:38 p.m.
By train from Hamburg to Hanover in less than an hour – that could be achieved by 2030. The federal government is planning a new railway line between the two cities along the A7. There are protests in the neighboring cities.
Rail travelers can hope for significantly less travel time between Hamburg and Hanover. The railway is examining a new railway line between the two cities, which could be based on the motorway. “This is a route that is very likely to run along the A7 – from Maschen in the direction of Hanover. Passengers from Hamburg Central Station, but also from Hanover Central Station can benefit from this,” said Hamburg Senator for Transport Anjes Tjarks NDR.
With the new route, the travel time between the two cities could be reduced to less than an hour. According to the Hamburg Transport Authority, the planned expansion is part of the infrastructure list for the German Federal Ministry of Transport. In the expert draft presented a few weeks ago, reductions in travel times between Hamburg and Hanover through further expansions had already been recommended. This should enable travelers to reach their connections more easily, and overall travel times should be shortened.
Implementation planned by 2030
The Germany clock could then, for example, shorten journeys from Hamburg to Stuttgart or Munich by almost an hour, as a presentation by the Federal Ministry of Transport available to the German Press Agency shows. The plans are geared towards implementation by 2030.
Deutsche Bahn has been looking into various route variants for a long time in order to speed up journeys between Hanover and Hamburg. In addition to the expansion of the existing route, alternative solutions between the existing route and the A7 motorway are being examined for their benefits for traffic and the effects on people, nature and the environment. Deutsche Bahn announced this in July.
Protests and questions about profitability
The investigations for the route are concentrated on the Hamburg-Lüneburg-Celle section. The preliminary planning had started last summer. The crux of the matter is whether all rail traffic – it’s about the fast ICE, regional trains and hundreds of freight trains every day – can run over the existing route, which is then to be expanded to multiple tracks.
There are protests in the affected cities, and the question arises whether such an expansion is economical.