GERMANY: Agreement has been reached for the installation of discontinuous electrification on lines in Rheinland-Pfalz to allow Stadler Flirt battery-electric multiple-units to replace the current diesel units from 2026 onwards.
Routes for conversion are:
- Neustadt/W Hbf – Landau Hbf – Karlsruhe Hbf (2026 onwards);
- Pirmasens Hbf – Saarbrücken Hbf (2026 onwards);
- Kaiserslautern to Pirmasens, Kusel and Lauterecken (2026 onwards);
- Landau Hbf – Pirmasens Hbf (2028 onwards);
- Winden – Bad Bergzabern (2029 onwards).
Overhead line equipment is planned to be installed at Landau, Winden/Pfalz, Pirmasens Nord, Lauterecken und Kusel, as well as at Platform 39 in Kaiserslautern Hbf and Platform 3 in Zweibrücken Hbf.
In addition, the 3·5 km between Pirmasens Nord and the Fehrbacher Tunnel will be electrified throughout. Electrification between Zweibrücken Hbf and Homburg-Einöd is part of a separate project, to be completed by December 2028.
The work is expected to be complete by late 2029, with the infrastructure works costing an estimated €150m.
Complete electrification of the Neustadt/W – Wörth (– Karlsruhe) corridor remains an ambition.