According to the railway, around 120 participants followed the presentation of the tunnel construction plans near the village of Niederau online and asked questions on Tuesday evening. Local fire brigades were already interested in tunnel rescues, residents worried about falling groundwater levels and environmentalists worried about endangered animal species. The railway also has to acquire land for its project, which worries farmers in the region. Someone wanted to know how to get to his fields in the future. Others criticized the high construction costs, with a journey time saving of three minutes.
Finally, the question arose as to why this year at Gröbern a road bridge over a railway line is being renewed, the tracks of which are supposed to be underground in ten years. According to the railway representatives, road construction is the responsibility of the State Office for Road Construction and Transport. According to the railway, the road bridge is ailing and will have to withstand car traffic for another ten years.
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Trains to Berlin and Leipzig
All trains between Dresden and Berlin, as well as long-distance trains and freight trains between Dresden and Leipzig, which have bypassed the Coswig junction for ten years and turn onto a new curve at Böhla, then travel to the old Leipzig route to Weißig via this section of the route near Niederau. So far, the old Berlin route near Niederau has run through numerous curves. The train now wants to lead them through a dead straight tunnel under the Kockelsberg.
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These passenger trains are currently running on the affected route:
- ICE line Dresden – Leipzig – Frankfurt / Main – Wiesbaden every two hours
- IC line Dresden – Leipzig – Hanover – Cologne every two hours
- EC line Budapest – Prague – Dresden – Berlin – Hamburg – Kiel / Westerland every two hours
- Railjet Graz – Vienna – Prague – Dresden – Berlin once a day
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Niederau municipality expects lively public interest
Niederau is particularly affected by the railway’s reconstruction plans. The community has not yet been involved in the project with statements, said Mayor Steffen Sang. However, one reckons with lively interest from the citizens. So far, several variants have been presented to the town hall that the mayor did not want to comment on.
It is important to the community that the local recreation area at Waldbad Oberau and Gellertberg remains accessible to all vehicles. The forest road there, which crosses the old railway line at a barred level crossing, also serves as a diversion route for buses and must also cross the future railway line locally without restrictions.
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Niederauer used to train noise
The mayor is unable to judge whether farmers will give up their soil for the new route to a tunnel. At least one property, including property, is in the way of railway construction. Sang points out that land as a possible compensation is in short supply in the region.
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For more than 100 years the place has got used to the rail traffic on the Dresden – Leipzig and Dresden – Berlin lines, which run almost parallel and within sight and hearing distance, with the noises of the trains around the clock. And assessing whether the costs of building a tunnel justify the savings in travel time of a few minutes is not within the competence of the municipality, adds Mayor Sang.
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Bahn has to buy land
A railway spokeswoman reported on request of an “exchange with the communities of Niederau and Priestewitz”. One experiences “so far a very constructive cooperation”. The company spokeswoman added that the acquisition of land will probably be necessary for the implementation. “The exact dates for this will emerge in the coming planning phases.” Deutsche Bahn is already in an exchange with a directly affected owner. One strives for amicable solutions.
According to current plans, the nearby Gröbern landfill will not be affected by the tunnel construction. According to project studies, the tunnel runs east of the landfill, the existing route now still west of it. It begins in the direction of Berlin near the border road in Niederau and ends about 550 meters south of the village of Großdobritz.
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Tunnel saves three minutes of travel time
Deutsche Bahn wants to finish the preliminary planning by the end of the year. The further schedule is dependent on the financing and award of the draft and approval planning, the spokeswoman said. “In the best case scenario, construction can start at the end of the current decade.”
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