New Lower Inn Valley RailwayNew Lower Inn Valley RailwayThe New Lower Inn Valley railway or Neue Unterinntalbahn is a partially completed double-track high-speed main line of the Austrian railways. It connects the Brenner railway at Innsbruck and the Innsbruck bypass with the line to Kufstein, connecting with Germany, Salzburg, and eastern Austria. It forms a part of the core of the network of Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). The bypass is part of Line 1 of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). The first section (Kundl–Baumkirchen), which is designed for speeds up to 220 km/h (140 mph), was opened on 26 November 2012. Since the timetable change on 9 December 2012, it relieves the existing Lower Inn Valley railway between Wörgl and Baumkirchen with trains able to operate at up to 250 km/h (160 mph). In the future, these and other construction projects (including the Brenner Base Tunnel) are expected to reduce travel time on the Munich–Innsbruck route from 1:50 to 0:55 and on the Munich–Verona route from 5:20 to 2:20. The cost of the project amounted to €2.358 billion. New Lower Inn Valley Railway History The Kundl–Baumkirchen section was opened on 26 December 2012. Route: section 1: Kundl-Baumkirchen The line is 40 km (25 mi) long, of which approximately 32 km (20 mi) is in tunnels or deep cuttings. One segment has been made as an upgrade of the original line while the other is an entirely new line:
The new line is fitted with ETCS Level 2 signalling system. Four new electronic interlocking systems were built to control both the new line and the existing line. These systems are remotely controlled from the new Innsbruck operations control centre (Betriebsfernsteuerzentrale). Planning: section 2: Brannenburg-Kundl The approximately 25 km (16 mi) section from Brannenburg in Germany to Kundl is currently in the planning phase with route selection between Schaftenau and Kundl having been completed. The continuation of the route into Germany is currently being negotiated. The selected route south from Schaftenau would leave the existing line via several short tunnels and cuttings to join the route of the A12 autobahn. It would then run through a nearly 10 km (6.2 mi)-long tunnel under the mountains of the southern Angerbergs and under the Inn, the A12 and the built-up areas of Kundl before emerging between the tracks of the existing line and running to the grade-separated junction at Radfeld. New Lower Inn Valley Railway Overview New Lower Inn Valley Railway Native Name: Neue Unterinntalbahn New Lower Inn Valley Railway Line Number: 330 01 New Lower Inn Valley Railway Locale: Austria New Lower Inn Valley Railway Route Number: 300 New Lower Inn Valley Railway Technical New Lower Inn Valley Railway Line Length: 40.236 km (25.001 mi) New Lower Inn Valley Railway Number of Tracks: 2 New Lower Inn Valley Railway Track Gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1/2 in) standard gauge New Lower Inn Valley Railway Electrification: 15 kV/16.7 Hz AC overhead catenary New Lower Inn Valley Railway Operating Speed: 220 km/h (136.7 mph) (maximum) New Lower Inn Valley Railway Route Map Planned railway from Brannenburg Original line from Kufstein Schaftenau junction Existing line to Wörgl Angath Angerberg Breitenbach Inn Original line from Wörgl 24.262 Radfeld junction Original line to Jenbach 26.500 Radfeld cutting (L 791 m) 27.291 Münsterer tunnel (L 15.990 m) Inn Original line Existing line 43.269 Jenbach cutting (L 620 m) Original line from Jenbach 43.890 Stans junction Existing line to Fritzens-Wattens 2 junction 44.760 Stans cutting (L 514 m) 45.274 Terfner tunnel (L 15.840 m) Existing line Vomp passing station planned Existing line 61,160 Baumkirchen cutting (L 624 m) 61,524 Change of chainage (-117 m) 61,407 61,667 Existing line from Stans junction 61.749 Fritzens-Wattens 2 junction Baumkirchen interconnection Original line to Innsbruck Innsbruck bypass to Innsbruck 1 junction | |||||
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