There is apparently movement in the dispute over the rail connection between Hanover and Hamburg. According to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, the upgrade of the route planned for 2026 will be expanded and postponed to 2029.
The Lower Saxony Ministry of Economics announced that the federal railway commissioner, Michael Theurer, had sent a corresponding proposal to department head Olaf Lies. What this means for the planned new line initially remained unclear. The railway had already mentioned the possible time windows of 2026 and 2029 for renovating the route.
“We welcome the fact that there has finally been movement in the discussion that has been stalled for years about the necessary upgrading of the existing rail infrastructure and the urgently needed expansion of rail capacity in Lower Saxony,” said the manager responsible for infrastructure projects at the railway subsidiary DB Netz, Ingrid Felipe , with. The railway will now immediately seek talks with the Federal Ministry of Transport and Lower Saxony.
Neither the railway nor the Federal Ministry of Transport provided any further details. For many years there has been a dispute about how the modernization of the route on the important north-south axis should be implemented. Essentially, the question is whether the existing route will be expanded or a completely new route will be built. The railway is for a new building.
