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Railway renaissance in Rhineland-Palatinate: 12 routes are about to be reactivated!
Rhineland-Palatinate is planning to reactivate 12 disused railway lines to promote more climate-friendly mobility.
Railway renaissance in Rhineland-Palatinate: 12 routes are about to be reactivated!
Rhineland-Palatinate has set itself an ambitious goal: the reactivation of disused railway lines in order to promote climate-friendly mobility and strengthen rural areas. Minister Katrin Eder presented the progress in the Committee for Climate, Energy and Mobility (AKEM) and emphasized that the aim is to quickly implement planned projects. The basic idea? To significantly increase rail traffic performance by 2030 and at the same time shift more freight and passenger traffic from road to rail, as vdv.de summarizes.
In order to make the framework for reactivations efficient, the Ministry of Mobility has drawn up a list of priorities based on a careful benefit-cost analysis (NKI). A total of 12 railway lines are being examined for their suitability, with ten results already available. The best-rated routes include the Brexbachtalbahn from Engers to Siershahn, which scores with an NKI of 3.89, while the Eistalbahn with a negative NKI is not pursued further. An overview of the routes examined shows:
| route | NKI |
|---|---|
| Engers – Siershahn (Brexbachtalbahn) | 3.89 |
| Koblenz – Lützel – Bassenheim | 2.63 |
| Landau – Germersheim | 1.86 |
| Langmeil – Monsheim (Zellertalbahn) | 1.5 |
| Staudernheim – Lauterecken – Grumbach (Glantalbahn) | 1.44 |
| Hinterweidenthal East – Bundenthal-Rumbach (Wieslauterbahn) | 1.3 |
| Kaisersesch – Gerolstein (Eifelquerbahn) | 1.12 |
| Linz – Kalenborn (Kasbachtalbahn) | 1.12 |
Look at the possibilities
In addition to the positive NKI, there are also routes that cannot be further taken into account because they are not economically viable. Minister Eder emphasizes that despite these negative results, securing the route for these routes remains important. “If the general conditions change, we are ready,” says Eder. To this end, criteria such as system resilience, tourism potential and CO2 savings are included in the analyses.
There is a clear strategy at the federal level to reactivate the railway lines. By 2030, greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 55 percent, which will be achieved, among other things, by strengthening rail transport. The federal government provides one billion euros annually for this purpose, which will increase to two billion euros from 2025. This means that up to 90 percent of the infrastructure costs are funded via the Municipal Transport Financing Act (GVFG), as [swr.de](https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/12-bahnwege-in-rlp- Werden-fuer-moegliche-reaktiv-untersucht-100.html) adds.
A step into the future
The reactivation plans are not just a story for the metropolitan areas, but are also intended to enable rural regions to flourish. The focus is on improving connections to places of residence and offering a better quality of life through sustainable mobility. The 12 railway routes analyzed are an important building block in making the rail network in Rhineland-Palatinate more attractive again.
But whether the reactivation is ultimately implemented is up to the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament to decide. The public discussion is in full swing, and the Pro Bahn passenger association is expressing concerns about the timing and competition with other types of transport.
The future of rail transport in Rhineland-Palatinate remains exciting, and citizens can look forward to seeing how things will develop. A step in the right direction has already been taken, and anticipation of well-functioning rail connections in the region is growing.