GERMANY: Deutsche Bahn has begun work to install 15 kV 16·7 Hz electrification on a 1·5 km section of line between Pfronten-Steinach and the Austrian border at Schönbichl.
This will allow electric operation of trains to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and München via Austria’s Ausserfernbahn, which is not connected to the rest of the Austrian rail network, with effect from the December 12 timetable change.
The €2·1m cost is being financed by the German government and the Land of Bayern. ‘I am very pleased that after the extensive financing and planning work, construction is finally starting and the wires are coming soon’, said Bayern Transport Minister Kerstin Schreyer on September 6. ‘Bayern aims to achieve climate neutrality in local rail transport by 2040. Every kilometre of catenary is important for this, which is why the Land has chosen to invest additional money here.’
The final 14·4 km of the Austrian section of the Ausserfernbahn from Reutte in Tirol to Schönbichl was electrified in 2019.
