Home » News » Tunnel breakthrough in Gebersdorf: Milestone achieved in the expansion of the U3 – Nuremberg

Tunnel breakthrough in Gebersdorf: Milestone achieved in the expansion of the U3 – Nuremberg

– The tunnel builders have every reason to celebrate: With the breakthrough of the tunnel in Gebersdorf, a decisive step has been taken in the expansion of the U3 subway line. But now the real work begins.


Everyone involved has been working toward this moment for 19 months. Under the eyes of numerous observers, tunnel sponsor Anke König presses the red button. A signal sounds and a large yellow tunnel excavator starts moving on the construction site. Before long, he’s barely recognizable in all the dust he creates. It takes about ten minutes for his tiller to work its way through the last block of rock. With the symbolic act on the construction site, the tunneling work for the future subway line to Gebersdorf is officially over.



Construction consultant Daniel Ulrich explains the dimensions of the work in the southwest of Nuremberg with a look at the numerous heaps of earth and rubble. Around 38,600 cubic meters of stone weighing around 100,000 tons had to be excavated and removed. One of the special features: The route runs under the Ringbahn and under the Main-Danube Canal at Tiefen Feld. The number of complaints from residents was limited, probably also because the necessary truck trips were limited to times from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Lord Mayor Marcus König can still remember August 7, 2020, when the starting gun was fired on the other side of the tunnel. König sees the expansion of the U3 line via the Kleinreuth near Schweinau stop to the future Gebersdorf terminus as “a clear commitment to public transport”. For him, the history of the Nuremberg subway is a success story that needs to be continued.

City invested 300 million euros

When the first work in the Nuremberg underground began 55 years ago, no one could have imagined that the Nuremberg underground network would one day cover 33 kilometers and 43 underground stations. Even the connection to the neighboring city of Fürth, which has six boarding and alighting opportunities over a five-kilometer route, has improved significantly.


Mayor's wife Anke König is the tunnel sponsor for the Gebersdorf–Kleinreuth near Schweinau line.  When she broke through the tunnel, she was presented with a figure of Saint Barbara, who is considered the patron saint of miners.  Next to King is Sven Hintsche.  He is project manager of the Hochtief/Max Bögl consortium.

Mayor’s wife Anke König is the tunnel sponsor for the Gebersdorf–Kleinreuth near Schweinau line. When she broke through the tunnel, she was presented with a figure of Saint Barbara, who is considered the patron saint of miners. Next to King is Sven Hintsche. He is project manager of the Hochtief/Max Bögl consortium.

© Nina Dworschak, NNZ


Since 1967, the mayor calculates, 1.4 billion euros have flowed into the (expansion) construction of the Nuremberg subway network. The federal and state governments would have taken over 1.1 billion euros of this. According to König, the city has invested 300 million euros to bring the subway to the people – and the people into the subway. The latter has by no means worked out as desired in the past few months, mainly due to the corona pandemic. König therefore emphasizes how important it is to win people over to public transport again so that they leave their cars at home more often.

Martin Holfelder, board member of the Max Bögl Group, also emphasizes the importance of the urban development strategy. For him, the driverless subway is just as groundbreaking as the Adler steam locomotive that connected Nuremberg and Fürth in 1835. According to the representative of the commissioned working group Hochtief/Max Bögl, the automatic subway contributes to people’s quality of life and offers an important alternative to motorized private transport. Like the club, she is indispensable in Nuremberg.

Work goes straight on

Of course, there is still a long way to go before passengers can board and disembark in Gebersdorf. The tunnel breakthrough is a reason to celebrate for all the miners, locksmiths, electricians, foremen, site management and other employees. However, the underground work continues immediately. In the next step, a 30 to 50 centimeters thick and waterproof concrete inner shell is to be installed.

The shell of the tunnel section, which will also include the future Kleinreuth station near Schweinau, is expected to be completed in December 2022. This is followed by the expansion and the tracks are laid. At the same time, the necessary rooms for the power supply systems, communications technology and automatic subway operations are being created in the station area.


After the interior of the tunnels and stations, the surfaces have to be restored. The route section is expected to go into operation at the beginning of 2026. The total costs for the extension of the U3 line in the direction of Gebersdorf amount to 148 million euros and are being funded by the federal and state governments with around 85 million euros.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.