The four-track expansion of the Rhine Valley Railway is progressing. The first construction contract has now been awarded for the planned new line between Offenburg and Müllheim, which will primarily be used for freight transport.

A central component is the eleven-kilometre-long Offenburg tunnel, the largest tunnel project of the entire expansion. However, this is still in the approval process. The start of construction, originally planned for 2026, is now in doubt. The railway company is currently reviewing objections and comments from authorities.

Progress is being made in the Nimburg area, where work on the renewal of several bridges on the Feuerbach is scheduled to start in 2026. Further bridge construction work along the A5 is in preparation – in the section between Riegel and March alone, 23 structures must be adapted before the tracks can be laid.

According to the current schedule, the new line is to be completed by 2035.

Whether this schedule is realistic given the large number of sub-projects and ongoing approval procedures remains to be seen.

Once completed, freight trains will be able to run on the new line along the A5 motorway, while long-distance trains will travel at speeds of up to 250 km/h on the existing line. The section between Lahr and Riegel is also to be renovated and expanded to four tracks in sections.

Another milestone is coming up at the end of 2026 with the commissioning of the Rastatt Tunnel – a project that has already shown how susceptible complex large-scale construction sites can be to delays.

Source: Gerhard Wolff: BNN vom 24.06.25