Offenburg (dpa/lsw) - Conservation groups in the southwest have raised serious concerns about the planned expansion of the freight railway line in the Rhine Valley. Since the A5 Karlsruhe - Basel motorway largely runs parallel to the railway line, there is an insurmountable obstacle for wild animals and certain species of bats. This was explained by the chairman of the Baden-Württemberg State Conservation Association (LNV), Gerhard Bronner, on Tuesday in Stuttgart.
According to their own statements, the LNV, the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) and the Naturschutzbund (Nabu) asked the Federal Railway Authority not to approve the planning for the sections between Offenburg (Ortenaukreis) and south of Freiburg. The planned underpasses and overpasses for animals are insufficient.
The Rhine Valley Railway is a main connection between the North Sea ports and Italy. On August 12, 2017, there was an accident in the tunnel during the construction of the crossing under the existing Rhine Valley Railway near Rastatt. The tracks above sagged and traffic stood still for weeks. In order to limit the damage, workers pumped large amounts of concrete over a length of 160 meters into the tube in which the tunnel boring machine was still stuck.
