The Chemnitz Railway Initiative has presented an immediate concept for an hourly direct connection between Chemnitz and Berlin. The existing route via Elsterwerda is identified as the preferred option. “The infrastructure is there, the continuous trains would only have to be ordered,” said the spokesman for the alliance Sebastian Drechsler on Monday at the presentation of the concept. So far, the regional trains from Berlin and Chemnitz each end in Elsterwerda, so that travelers between the two major cities have to change there. From the point of view of the alliance, both lines should be merged and a direct connection created without major additional costs.
The lack of a long-distance connection from Chemnitz has been a nuisance in the region for years. After all, it is the fourth largest city in eastern Germany with 245,000 inhabitants and an important metropolitan area nationwide. The railway initiative, which includes the Pro Bahn passenger association and the Sachsen 1828 industrial association, complained that there are hardly any cities outside of Saxony that can be reached directly by train from Chemnitz. This poor rail connection becomes more explosive with a view to 2025, if Chemnitz as Europe’s cultural capital wants to attract international visitors.
In the meantime, there is a financing agreement between the state and the Central Saxony transport association, according to which long-distance trains between Berlin and BER Airport via Dresden to Chemnitz should run again from summer 2022 – but only twice a day in both directions according to the current status.
In addition to the connection to Berlin, the alliance is focusing on two further weak points with its “Fernbahn 21” concept. On the one hand, there is a direct connection to Erfurt. The regional trains from Thuringia have so far ended in Glauchau for cost reasons, so that travelers between Thuringia and Chemnitz have to change there. The initiative therefore advocates extending this line to Chemnitz. According to the information, this would cost around 2.5 million euros annually.
On the other hand, the alliance partners are pressing for a complete double-track expansion including continuous electrification of the Chemnitz-Leipzig route in order to remove existing bottlenecks and enable more connections and more freight traffic on the route. Leipzig is a central hub for the region in numerous German metropolitan regions such as Hamburg, the greater Cologne-Bonn area, but also to Frankfurt and Stuttgart, it said.
The railway initiative appealed to politicians to quickly set the course for a better connection between Chemnitz and long-distance destinations. It is not just about looking ahead to the Capital of Culture year 2025, but also about making better use of the potential of rail transport in the long term and making rail travel more attractive for travelers – for example through fewer changes and shorter journey times.
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