The federal government is committed to the relief tunnel from the main station to Altona

The federal government has committed itself to the planned rail relief tunnel between Hamburg Central Station and Altona station. The federal government is taking part in the feasibility study and the planning, said Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport and Rail Transport Commissioner Michael Theurer on Tuesday on the sidelines of the "Northwest Regional Conference - Germany clock for Hamburg and the metropolitan region". "We wouldn't do that if there was no federal interest in it." Even Hamburg would hardly provide any significant planning services if the city didn't want the tunnel at all. Hamburg's Transport Senator Anjes Tjarks (Greens) emphasized: "We don't plan for fun, but because we see great opportunities."

The construction project with the cumbersome designation "connecting railway relief tunnel" is listed in the requirements plan for federal railways as having the highest priority. Around 2.66 billion euros are estimated for the project alone. According to Deutsche Bahn, 300 regional and long-distance trains and 900 S-Bahn trains run daily on the railway line between the chronically congested main station and Altona. Capacity for long-distance traffic is to be freed up on the heavily used section of the route by relocating the two-track S-Bahn traffic underground and then four instead of two tracks for long-distance traffic will be available on the section.

The project is considered an important building block for the planned "Germany cycle" of the railway. This equally includes local, long-distance and freight transport. "It is expressly not about isolated racetracks, but about efficient and future-oriented rail routes with attractive offers and short travel times to the regions," emphasized the State Secretary. It's no use if you're going 20 minutes faster on a racetrack and then lose exactly those 20 minutes when you change trains. The timetable comes first – then the construction measures are planned accordingly. Switzerland is a role model. Theurer admitted that the transition would take decades.

Hamburg's transport senator Tjarks called the Germany clock a "game changer". Because it is no longer about the planning of individual routes, "but we are planning a network that has been thought out from the timetable". Hamburg Central Station is also the central transport hub for parts of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. Tjarks acknowledged that the construction of the relief tunnel will be a challenge for citizens, but will also bring many benefits.

The journey from Hamburg to Munich in Germany will no longer take 5.40 hours, but only 4.45 hours. "That's a real house number," said Tjarks, referring to the reduced travel time. But things are also going much faster to Stuttgart, Frankfurt/Main and the Ruhr area. In addition, there would be significantly larger capacities, about every half hour a train to Berlin and every two hours a connection to Copenhagen. But trains would also run more often in regional traffic, for example to Kiel, Lübeck, Bremen and Hanover.

Schleswig-Holstein Transport Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen explained: "The state of Schleswig-Holstein will make its contribution by expanding local transport and reactivating routes." It is important that the federal government ensures the financing of the infrastructure projects. "In Schleswig-Holstein, for example, this affects additional tracks between Bad Schwartau and Lübeck."

The state secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Transport, Berend Lindner, called the Deutschlandtakt a great opportunity for his country. "My hope is that freight traffic can also be strengthened." The IHK-Nord chairman and Hamburg Chamber of Commerce President Norbert Aust called for significantly faster planning processes and significantly more funding than the federal government has planned so far.