Main Line for Europe

The Magistrale for Europe[1][2] (German: Magistrale für Europa;[3] French: Magistrale européenne[4]) or Main line for Europe is a Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) project for the creation of a high-speed railway line between Paris and Bratislava, with a branch-off to Budapest.[1] It was listed as TEN project No. 17 (Paris—Bratislava) by the European Commission in 1995, and is already under way.[5]

Planned high-speed rail link Paris—Bratislava

The project is planned to be completed by 2020. It will link 34 million people in five European countries. The overall length of the route from Paris to Budapest is 1,592 km (989 mi).

Sections

Parts of the route were formerly served by Orient Express trains, which ceased operations in 2009. Today TGV rail connections exist from Paris to Stuttgart or at longest Munich. The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) currently provide direct Railjet and EuroNight connections between Munich and Budapest.

France
Paris Gare de l'Est

The French part of the line is the LGV Est européenne high-speed railway. Its first section as far as Baudrecourt east of Metz has been in use since 2007 whilst the second section to Vendenheim near Strasbourg opened in July 2016.[6] The new railway line provides a maximum speed up to 320 km/h and reduced the travel time from Gare de Paris-Est to the largely refurbished Gare de Strasbourg to less than two hours.[4]

Germany

In Germany the line follows the Appenweier–Strasbourg railway (Europabahn) from the Rhine Bridge to Appenweier and then the Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway (Rheintalbahn) down to Bruchsal. The Europabahn is built for a maximum speed of 200 km/h while the Rheintalbahn to Rastatt Süd is for 250 km/h. The second part of the new Rheintalbahn (Rastatt Süd to Bruchsal) is to be completed by 2014. At the Bruchsal Rollenberg junction the MoE joins the Mannheim–Stuttgart high-speed railway which was built for 250 km/h. Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof was rebuilt as a through station in the course of the controversial Stuttgart 21 project.[2] Despite some protests, a 2011 statewide referendum upheld the majority support and thus the political decision to rebuild the station and let the Magistrale for Europe project proceed.[2]

Demolition works on Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, 2010

In Stuttgart the line joins the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded railway (including the Stuttgart–Wendlingen and Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed railway lines replacing the Fils Valley Railway) which is expected to be completed in 2020 and will provide a maximum speed of 250 km/h between Stuttgart and Ulm and 200 km/h on the Ulm–Augsburg railway line. The Munich–Augsburg railway is being upgraded to separate slower traffic (freight and short-distance trains) from high speed trains, which will be able to reach 230 km/h. From München-Pasing station trains may run directly to München Ost without passing München Hauptbahnhof. Plans for the reconstruction of the Munich main station similar to Stuttgart 21 have been abandoned.

Trains from München Ost shall reach Salzburg Hauptbahnhof via the upgraded Munich–Mühldorf railway, providing a maximum speed of 160 km/h, and the Mühldorf–Freilassing railway line. In Freilassing the MoE joins the Rosenheim–Salzburg railway leading across the Austrian border including a new third track serving the Salzburg S-Bahn commuter network.

Austria
Vienna main station, 2012

In Austria, the Western Railway line is to be extended to reduce travel time between Munich, Salzburg, Linz, and Vienna to one hour each. The section between the Attnang-Puchheim rail hub and Wels Hauptbahnhof near Linz was already upgraded until October 2012 to provide a maximum speed of 230 km/h. Between Linz and Vienna a new parallel high-speed railway line (Neue Westbahn) for a maximum speed of 250 km/h is to be completed in 2015, including the Wienerwald Tunnel.

In Vienna, the former Südbahnhof terminal station was demolished and replaced by new Wien Hauptbahnhof. From here, trains run on the Eastern Railway line to Bratislava-Petržalka railway station, including a connection to Vienna International Airport. East of Vienna, a southwestern branch-off leads via Győr to Budapest.

Route
Section Distance Opening Duration before1 Recent duration1 Planned duration1
Paris–Strasbourg476 kmParis–Baudrecourt 2007237 min (ø 121 km/h)110 min (ø 260 km/h)-
Baudrecourt–Vendenheim 2016
Strasbourg–Karlsruhe81 kma portion (Appenweier-Karlsruhe) is in use now40 min (ø 122 km/h)25 min (ø 194 km/h)
Karlsruhe–Stuttgart90 kmin use61 min (ø 89 km/h)35 min (ø 154 km/h)35 min (ø 154 km/h)
Stuttgart–Ulm94 km today2022[3]54 min (ø 104 km/h)28 min (ø 174 km/h)
81 km new
Ulm–Augsburg86 km2025[3]41 min (ø 126 km/h)28 min (ø 184 km/h)
Augsburg–Munich61 km201137 min (ø 99 km/h)18 min (ø 203 km/h)
Munich–Salzburg153 kmMunich–Freilassing 201587 min (ø 106 km/h)62 min (ø 148 km/h)
Freilassing–Salzburg 2009
Salzburg–Linz127 kmSalzburg–Attnang-Puchheim 201364 min (ø 119 km/h)60 min (ø 127 km/h)
Attnang-Puchheim–Wels 2011
Wels–Linz 2025
Linz–St. Pölten130 km202148 min (ø 163 km/h)44 min (ø 177 km/h)
St.Pölten-Vienna44 km201241 min (ø 64 km/h)25 min (ø 106 km/h)
Vienna–Budapest263 km181 min (ø 87 km/h)
Vienna–Bratislavanorthern line 65 km201157 min (ø 68 km/h)35 min (ø 111 km/h)
southern line 80 km201355 min (ø 87 km/h)
total:
Paris–Budapest1592 km722 min (12:02)1 2 (ø 132 km/h)634 min (10:34)1 2 (ø 151 km/h)
Paris–Bratislava (northern line)1394 km598 min (9:58)1 2 (ø 140 km/h)488 min (8:08)1 2 (ø 171 km/h)
Paris–Bratislava (southern line)1409 km508 min (8:28)1 2 (ø 166 km/h)
Paris–Munich875 km484 min (8:04)1 2 (ø 108 km/h)317 min (5:17) 1 (ø 166 km/h)244 min (4:04) 1 (ø 215 km/h)

1 It is calculated with the fastest possible durations between the towns.
2 Real duration is longer due to changing.

Source: annual report 2006/07 of Péter Balázs

References
  1. Bruinsma, Frank (ed.) (2007). Railway Development: Impacts on Urban Dynamics. Heidelberg: Springer Science & Business Media. p. 72. ISBN 9783790819724. Retrieved 20 June 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. Kaw, Jon Kher (ed.) (2020). The Hidden Wealth of Cities: Creating, Financing, and Managing Public Spaces. Washington, D.C.: World Bank Publications. p. 98. ISBN 9781464814938. Retrieved 20 June 2020.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. Florian Fuchs and Claudia Henzler (24 October 2019). "Im Schneckentempo zur Schnellfahrstrecke". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  4. Charles Gautier (24 March 2017). "Ces projets français réalisés grâce aux aides européennes". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  5. "TEN-T priority axes and projects 2005" (PDF). Trans-European Transport Network. European Commission. 2005. (14.4 MB, axis No 17, p44)
  6. "Archived copy" (in German). Archived from the original on 2011-11-17. Retrieved 2011-07-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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