A Züblin/HOCHTIEF joint venture has won the contract to construct a new rail tunnel beneath the city of Rastatt along the Karlsruhe-Basle line.
DB Netze is managing a major upgrade of the line. The existing double-track railway will become a four-track corridor, allowing freight and short-distance commuter services to be separated from 250 km/h intercity trains.
The twin-tube rail tunnel will stretch for more than 4 kilometres from east of Ötigheim to south of Rastatt.
The contract has been valued at €312 million.
Work is expected to start in November 2014 and be complete by mid-2018. The core of the tunnel will utilise tunnel boring machines (TBM).
