Base tunnel for Dresden-Prague railway line

 
Map showing the proposed route
The construction of a 26km base tunnel under the German-Czech border is recommended in the feasibility study for a new railway line between Heidenau and Ústí nad Labem. The line is supposed to increase the speed and capacity on the Dresden – Prague corridor.
Presenting the conclusions of the study on January 14, the Land of Sachsen’s Transport Minister Martin Dulig said the topography makes it impractical to increase capacity on the existing line along the River Elbe, which is a bottleneck on the TEN-T Orient/East–Mediterranean Corridor between the north German ports and the Balkans.
He said the new line could reduce passenger journey times between Dresden and Prague from more than 2 hours to 50 minutes, as well as providing a significant increase in freight capacity and reducing noise and air pollution in the Elbe Valley. The line would also be less vulnerable to flooding.
The EU-backed feasibility study began in mid-2014. It was undertaken by consultants including Krebs & Kiefer on the German side and a joint venture of Mott MacDonald and Sudop Praha on the Czech side.

Jan 16, 2016Railway Gazette
Link: http://www.tunneltalk.com/World-News-Briefs.php#