Transport Minister Winfried Hermann has spoken out in favor of reactivating the Freiburg-Colmar rail link. He thus supports the initiative of municipalities on both sides of the Rhine.
After Freiburg’s Lord Mayor Martin Horn, together with other local politicians on both sides of the Rhine, demanded a better rail connection to Alsace, he received encouragement from State Transport Minister Winfried Hermann.
“Nearly 78 years after the end of the war, important bridges for rail traffic between France and Germany have to be rebuilt. This applies in particular to the connection between Freiburg and Colmar, which was reactivated by the signatures of former Chancellor Merkel and French President Macron under the Aachen Treaty there is also an order from the highest authority,” the minister was quoted as saying in a statement from his ministry. “As a state, we welcome and support the initiatives of the municipalities on both sides of the border,” Hermann continued.
The federal government should also get involved
He criticized Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing for not reporting the important project to Brussels as a European TEN-T project, like the French partners. “The state of Baden-Württemberg is asking the EU for support for this project, but in this international project – in the spirit of Franco-German cooperation – the federal government is also asked to continue to get involved,” it continues.
It is not enough that only the large cross-border rail routes in Europe are promoted. The regional rail connections between the countries are particularly important for daily commuting and should be taken into account in the funding. “Because such rail projects are not only an important component of the mobility turnaround, but also cross-border economic development and location policy on the Upper Rhine,” says Hermann.
Freiburg’s mayor is also committed to reactivation
During the Second World War, many bridges over the Rhine were destroyed and rail connections were interrupted. Some are still unrecovered today. In 1939, at the beginning of the Second World War, the French military blew up the Rhine bridge near Breisach. In 1940, the German military built a makeshift replacement bridge, only to destroy it again in early 1945. The remaining railway line on the French side was used for passenger traffic until 1969, since then only for freight trains. The railway line on the German side remained in operation and was electrified in 2019.
Freiburg’s Mayor Horn had criticized the connection to Alsace: “We are dissatisfied with the speed, timing, reliability and punctuality”. The timing on the existing route between Freiburg and Alsatian Mulhouse is worse than years ago. There are hardly any continuous connections. Horn announced that he would write a joint letter to the capitals with his colleague from Mulhouse.
