Plochingen (dpa / lsw) - Four weeks before the 60-kilometer new Wendlingen-Ulm line goes into operation, a number of trains are already running on the route. Several times a day, around 250 train drivers complete so-called route customer trips with an ICE and a regional train, as Deutsche Bahn announced on Thursday in Plochingen (Esslingen district). The men and women learned everything that would be required to be able to control trains there in the future: for example, the topographical characteristics of the route, the distances between the signal sections and the track layout within the stations.
The route will officially go into operation on December 11th with the timetable change. According to the announcement, the travel time between Stuttgart and Ulm will then be reduced by around 15 minutes. Trains can travel at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour on the new route, which partly runs parallel to the A8 motorway. Construction started in 2012. According to Deutsche Bahn, the costs amounted to 3.98 billion euros.
With the new route, there is also an improved daily offer between Stuttgart and Munich by around 20 to 90 trips. Regional transport also benefits from this. With the new train station in Merklingen, an entire region will be connected to the railways.
The new line is part of the Stuttgart-Ulm railway project. This also includes the underground station in the center of Stuttgart, including the underground connection to the airport and the high-speed railway line to Ulm. Commissioning is planned for 2025.
