Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway

|}The Hanover - Würzburg high-speed railway was the first of several high-speed railway lines for InterCityExpress traffic that were built in Germany. While technically starting in the village of Rethen and ending several kilometres north of Würzburg Hauptbahnhof, it is a de facto link between Hanover and Würzburg, with stops at Göttingen, Kassel and Fulda. Construction started as early as 1973, the line opening fully in 1991.At 327 km (or 203 miles) length, it still is the longest newly built rail line in Germany, and its costs are estimated at around DM 40 million (€ 20.45 million) per kilometre.

History

The Deutsche Bundesbahn began construction of the line in 1973. Since it was designed for fast passenger trains as well as for express freight trains, its maximum incline is a mere 1.25 %. Combined with the hilly terrain, this made the construction of 61 tunnels and 10 large bridges necessary. Of the 327 km of total length, 120 km are in tunnels, the two longest being the Landrücken Tunnel (10,779 m) south of Fulda, the second longest being the Mündener Tunnel (10,525 m) south of Hann. Münden. The highest bridge is the Rombach Valley Bridge near Schlitz at 95 metres.

Notwithstanding 10,700 complaints and 360 lawsuits, the line was opened fully in 1991, though the Würzburg-Fulda part was used by InterCity trains as early as 1988. The standard speed on the line is 250 km/h (155 mph); 280 km/h may be reached...
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