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Weiterstadt criticizes Deutsche Bahn’s route plans

  • OfJens Joachim

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With the help of a lawyer and a noise expert, the city of Weiterstadt near Darmstadt wants to prevent the connection of the Rotterdam-Precise freight train route to the planned Frankfurt-Mannheim ICE express line.

The city of Weiterstadt wants to take legal action against a decision by Deutsche Bahn. In the course of the construction of the ICE high-speed rail line Frankfurt – Mannheim, this wants to connect the freight train route from Rotterdam in the Netherlands to Genoa in Italy north of Weiterstadt with a double-track curve to the new ICE route. According to a message from Mayor Ralf Möller (SPD), the city now wants to prevent the planned route with the help of a lawyer and a sound expert.

In November 2020, the network company of Deutsche Bahn responsible for the new construction project decided in favor of the small “Weiterstädter curve”, which will be used in a few years’ time to bring freight trains from and towards Mainz to the north-south direct connection along Autobahn 5. However, this solution, so the Weiterstadt town hall chief Möller, would have the consequence that the already strong noise pollution could “increase significantly”. According to the railway’s forecasts, the volume should almost double during the night, especially since maximum utilization of the route is planned. The city of Weiterstadt wanted to defend itself against the plans of the railway.

The city council has already approved a five-figure sum to hire a legal advisor who stands up for the interests of the municipality. In addition, a noise expert has already been commissioned to deal intensively with the pollution for the city of Weiterstadt and to check the noise calculations submitted by the railway.

The project

The ICE express train line Frankfurt – Mannheim is part of the Frankfurt RheinMainplus infrastructure development program, which is being promoted jointly by the federal government, the state of Hesse, the city of Frankfurt, the Rhein-Main transport association and Deutsche Bahn.

In a complex process Deutsche Bahn had determined the exact route for the planned new ICE route Frankfurt – Mannheim for four years.

In November 2020 the preferred route was announced. Before that, more than 30 different route variants had been examined in detail and compared with one another. jjo

www.frankfurt-mannheim.de

According to Mayor Möller, “the common goal is to prevent the planned route and to find a route that is less of a burden for the residents”. If this does not succeed, the city wants to demand “supra-legal noise protection”. These include, for example, an earlier trough position, sound-absorbing trough walls or flat and polished rails. This “full protection” through active soundproofing projects should make soundproof windows on the buildings superfluous. The head of the town hall of Weiterstadt announced at the same time that they wanted to “fight for the legitimate interests of our citizens” within the framework of the planned parliamentary deliberations in the committees of the German Bundestag.

The demands of the neighboring municipalities are worked out in three project advisory boards. An advisory board is dedicated to the section between Zeppelinheim and Gernsheim – and thus also to the demands of Weiterstadt.

The railway will provide information on the current status of the planning in digital information events, at which the respective regional peculiarities are to be discussed. Next Tuesday, July 6th, from 5 to 7 p.m., it will be about the section between Zeppelinheim and Darmstadt-Nord and on Friday, July 16, also from 5 to 7 p.m., there will be information about the section between Weiterstadt and Pfungstadt .

The access link to the information events will be published one day before the respective event on the project website www.frankfurt-mannheim.de. Registration is not required. Citizens will have the opportunity to ask their questions and provide information via a chat function, which will be discussed during the event. Around 45 minutes are planned for the presentation, followed by an open question and answer session.

A trough on the railway line is supposed to reduce the noise of the passing trains.

© DB Netz AG

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