We know that Deutsche Bahn is facing enormous difficulties in ensuring the punctuality of its trains. The recent Transport & Environment (T&E) ranking, which analyses the performance of 27 European rail operators, confirms this. DB ranked 23rd out of 27.
One piece of good news is the reopening on 14 December of the Riedbahn, a 70km-long line. This line is at the heart of the entire rail system in western Germany. Between Mannheim and Frankfurt, some 300 long-distance trains from all over Germany run every day. But also from neighbouring countries, including the Paris-Frankfurt high-speed line via Saarbrücken.
The state of disrepair of the Riedbahn has contributed to record delays on this line. According to statistics from the German Federal Ministry of Transport, more than half the trains on the line are actually running late. An average of 20 minutes. This generally compromises connections.
Renovation work on the Riedbahn1.2 billion investment, were completed in a record time of 5 months. The result is the renewal of 120 km of railThese include the installation of new traffic signals, the construction of noise barriers and finally, the renovation of 20 stations.
The return of the Riedbahn also means no longer to run rail convoys via Mainz. This added almost 30 minutes to the journey.. From now on, trains on certain parts of the line will be able to travel at 200 km/h instead of 160 km/h. It's a gigantic effort which, for French passengers, should now guarantee better punctuality on the route. Paris-Sarrebruck-Mannheim-Frankfurt. This improvement also concerns the Marseille-Frankfurt TGV line.
At the same time, DB is developing a new track on the Mannheim-Frankfurt route via Darmstadt. Scheduled to open after 2030, the future new route, along the A67 motorway, should make it possible to cut journey times by 10 minutes between Frankfurt and Mannheim. And to run more mainline trains.
