South Palatinate in the flood view: Landau-Germersheim-Bahn track!

South Palatinate in the flood view: Landau-Germersheim-Bahn track!

In the southern Palatinate there is a motto that currently have a motto that the counties southern Weinstraße and Germersheim as well as the city of Landau are currently in mind. In a recent working meeting of District Administrator Dietmar Seefeldt (Süw), District Administrator Martin Brandl (GER) and Mayor Dominik Geißler (Landau), the focus was on important topics such as flood protection and the reactivation of disabled rail routes. Because flood protection in particular requires close cooperation, as the three city and district peaks emphasize in unison. There are no limits to waters and therefore an exchange meeting will take place in August under the leadership of the Germersheim district to advise on partnerships in coping with floods, such as Wochenblatt-reporter.de.

But the rail also gets a lot of attention at the moment. The restart of decommissioned routes is very popular, whereby the connection between Landau and Germersheim is considered the most promising project. A recently carried out feasibility study brings pleasant news: A benefit-cost ratio of 1.86 speaks for the reactivation of the route, which means that the investments will pay off at best. These findings were also presented in the association meeting of the Public Passenger Transport of Rhineland-Palatinate Süd, so Suedliche-weinstrasse.de.

New framework conditions for rail reactivation

"There is something here!" Could you say, because the federal government dramatically adapted the criteria for the evaluation and financing of public transport projects on rails last year. These new standards are likely to be important for a variety of reactivations. The reactivation of the route between Landau and Germersheim could also be profitable under the new framework and at the same time make a positive contribution to the region's traffic infrastructure. The detailed planning for the project now follows, and those responsible for the city of Landau and the counties see the reactivation as a big profit for the citizens who will benefit from faster connections.

However, there are also critical voices: local politicians are dissatisfied with the time delay that has arisen in the past two years. It is obvious that the urgency to revive the railway lines is both the state government and local politics. It would be desirable to show more pragmatism in prioritizing the reactivation projects, as the district councilors and the mayor urge.

A look at the future of the rail

If you look beyond the region, it becomes clear that the federal government has large plans by 2030 to significantly expand rail transport. With the aim of double the traffic performance in rail passenger traffic and increasing the proportion of rail freight transport to 25%, the reactivation of disabled routes will be a central component of this strategy. These measures are not only crucial for climate protection, but also for sustainable mobility in rural areas, in which many medium-sized centers are currently without a train connection, such as vdv.de.

The reactivation of railway lines therefore harbors great potential - both for the citizens of the region and for the entire country. It remains to be seen how the next steps will be in the implementation of the plans and whether the appeal will be heard to the state government. However, the common path in the southern Palatinate shows that you can achieve a lot together when you pull together.