German Unity Transport Project 8

The plans for the new line

The plans for the new line from Erfurt to Leipzig/Halle involved investigating an area of approximately 3,700 km² (50 percent larger than the federal state of Saarland). Five different primary and subsidiary alternative routes were examined and assessed in the appraisal process based on operational, ecological, engineering and cost-efficiency aspects.

(Photo: DB AG)

During the detailed planning phases, numerous different route options over a wide area and throughout the region (particularly the Halle/Saale area) were examined, appraised and taken into account in the decision-making process. In a regional planning procedure with an integrated environmental impact study carried out from 1992 to 1993, the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony agreed on a route and confirmed by various means that it fulfilled regional and federal state planning objectives. In June 1994 the Federal Minister for Transport approved the layout for the new line and the associated traction current supply routes. For the purpose of obtaining planning permission, the entire line was subdivided into 14 planning approval sections, on which the Federal Railway Authority (EBA) made planning approval decisions between 1994 and 1996.

The general public were included in the planning process right from the outset. In over 100 cities, towns and communities, over 1,000 consultations took place with technical and local authorities, associations, federations and members of parliament. The public were kept informed about the progress of planning and construction by means of events and exhibitions and through the media.