The Wendlingen-Ulm high-speed line is a

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...

way in Germany, entirely within the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

. The line crosses the

Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura ( , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of th ...

mountain range, with trains traveling at speeds up to . It mostly follows the A8 motorway, connecting with the

Neu-Ulm Neu-Ulm (, ; Swabian: ''Nej-Ulm'') is the seat of the Neu-Ulm district and a town in Swabia, Bavaria. Neighbouring towns include Ulm, Senden, Pfaffenhofen an der Roth, Holzheim, Nersingen and Elchingen. The population is 58,978 (31 Decembe ...

station in the east and

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

in the west.

Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (; ) is the primary railway station in the city of Stuttgart, the state capital of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. It is the largest regional and long-distance railway station in Stuttgart, the main node of the ...

is currently being redeveloped as part of the

Stuttgart 21 Stuttgart 21 is a railway and urban development project in Stuttgart, Germany. It is a part of the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded railway and the Main Line for Europe (Paris—Vienna) within the framework of the Trans-European Networks ...

project. As a section of the Stuttgart–Augsburg new and upgraded line, the Wendlingen-Ulm line is a component of the Magistrale for Europe from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, which is supported by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

as part of its Trans-European Networks. The European Union provided up to 50 per cent funding of the planning phase of the project and ten per cent of its construction costs.

Line

The line cut travel time for high-speed traffic between

and

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

to 28 minutes rather than the previous 54 minutes, assuming no stop at

Stuttgart Airport Stuttgart Airport () formerly is an international airport serving Stuttgart, the capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is christened in honor of Stuttgart's former mayor, Manfred Rommel, son of Erwin Rommel, and is the sixth ...

is made. The project was part of

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

's ''Netz 21'' (network 21) concept, which envisages a reduction of the travel time between

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

from over three and a half hours today to two and a half hours in the future. However, this timing can only be achieved with a by-pass of

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

on the proposed Rhine/Main–Rhine/Neckar high-speed rail line, which would allow the travel time between Frankfurt and Stuttgart to be reduced to one hour. Deutsche Bahn has shelved the proposed bypass because of opposition to it in Mannheim. 27.1 km of the 58 km line run in seven twin-tube tunnels. The estimated construction cost of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

2 billion, is affected by the difficult geology that the tunnels will run through.

Sections

The project was divided into seven planning sections: *''Section 2.1 a/b '' connects Wendlingen with section 1.4 of the Stuttgart 21 project. *''Section 2.1 c (Albvorland: Alb foothills)'' runs parallel with the A8, including the 8.3 km-long Albvorland tunnel. *''Section 2.2 (Albaufstieg: Alb ascent)'' consists mainly of the approximately 8.8 km for the Bossler tunnel, two approximately 480 m-long bridges over the Fils valley and the approximately 4.8 km-long Steinbühl tunnel. *''Section 2.3 (Albhochfläche: Alb highlands)'' runs above ground and parallel to the A8. *''Section 2.4 (Albabstieg: Alb descent)'' runs through a tunnel into the city of

. *The integration of the line with Ulm station is carried out in ''Section 2.5 a1''. * Finally ''Section 2.5 a2 (Danube bridge)'' connects to the Neu-Ulm 21 project.

Construction timetable

Construction was initially planned to commence in 2005, but was pushed back due to budget cuts. This changed in 2007, when the Federal Government, the State of

and

announced that the project had been officially approved. €2.0 billion would be invested in the Wendlingen-Ulm high-speed line, along with €2.8 billion in Stuttgart 21. Baden-Württemberg agreed to provide funds of €950 million for the Wendlingen-Ulm line, but the Federal Government will not provide funding for it before 2016. Preparatory construction work for the new line began in the autumn of 2010, and the ground-breaking ceremony was held on 7 May 2012. The line was officially opened on 9 December 2022, in an official ceremony with the head of Deutsche Bahn and several local politicians.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wendlingen-Ulm high-speed railway Railway lines in Baden-Württemberg Railway lines in Bavaria High-speed railway lines in Germany Railway lines opened in 2022