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There is a perception in the UK that railways in continental Europe don’t suffer the difficulties with project implementation that we seem to experience here. But this is not always the case, and the opening of the final part of the German high-speed route between Berlin and Munich in December (p72, last month) offers a case in point. It also provides lessons for the UK in terms of introducing new European Train Control System (ETCS) signalling, something planned here over the coming years.
The opening should have been a public relations triumph for Deutsche Bahn, the German national operator. It followed 20 years of construction and over €5 billion of investment, and the new line offers sub four-hour journey times between Berlin and Munich on a line partly built through hilly forests and numerous tunnels.
Research for last month’s feature made a trip on the new line desirable, but the trip itself was less than desirable! Standing in the doorway of an ICE train whilst holding a fully flexible First Class ticket wasn’t really the plan – but it also wasn’t the plan for the 20 or so fellow travellers (in that coach) in the same position. The only positive aspect was that the journey time to Erfur…
