The railway connection between the Czech Republic and Germany will improve13/10/2023|Press releasesTransport Minister Martin Kupka and German Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport Volker Wissing signed today a joint declaration on future development plans for the rail connection between the Czech Republic and Germany. Both ministries want to concentrate on building a high-speed connection on the Prague – Dresden – Berlin axis, on the modernisation and electrification of the Prague – Pilsen – Domažlice – Nuremberg/Munich line and on improving the parameters of the Nuremberg – Marktredwitz – Cheb – Prague connection. The ministers also want to proceed in a coordinated manner at the EU level in the negotiations on obtaining funding for railway infrastructure. "Our citizens and businesses feel the deficiencies of the existing rail connection between the Czech Republic and Germany every day. We actually have only one capacity connection via Ústí nad Labem, which has been stretched to the limits for many years now. It is therefore essential for us to build new, up-to-date railway connections and I am glad that Germany has also signed up to this task also in the context of the coming update of the Federal Transport Roads Development Plan," said Transport Minister Martin Kupka and added: "The construction of high-speed lines and the major improvement of the parameters of conventional ones will require a lot of financial resources. This is why we want to proceed together in the negotiations with the European Union institutions to secure sufficient funding. Our common voice will be heard in Europe." "Cross-border mobility is one of the cornerstones of the European idea. However, this clearly requires corresponding infrastructure. As part of our agreement today, we will focus on the development of climate-friendly rail. We want to shorten the travel time between Berlin and Prague and electrify the southern connection from Munich and Nuremberg. This will strengthen passenger and freight rail transport between our two countries," said Federal Minister for Digitalisation and Transport Volker Wissing after signing the memorandum. The joint declaration agrees on the need to build a new high-speed rail connection between Berlin, Prague and Vienna, the so-called Via Vindobona line. The most significant construction project on the new line in the section Dresden – Prague will be the 29-kilometre long cross-border railway tunnel under the Krušné hory (Erzgebirge) Mountains. Správa železnic is currently preparing a tender for the contractor of the geological survey in the location of this Krušnohorský tunnel. The survey should be launched later this year. To improve the connection with Bavaria, it is important to continue in modernising, electrifying and increasing the capacity of the line Pilsen – Domažlice – Česká Kubice – state border – Schwandorf – Munich/Nuremberg as another long-distance passenger and high-capacity freight railway connection. On the Czech side, the modernisation of the section Pilsen – Domažlice – state border is under way. From the Czech Republic's point of view, it is important to use the line not only for passenger transport but also for freight, with a minimum of one freight train per hour, including peak hours (24 train pairs, evenly distributed during the day). Minister Kupka and Minister Wissing also agreed that they want to pursue the modernisation of the Prague – Pilsen – Cheb – Nuremberg line. "We support the connection via Cheb as a promising link for interregional transport services between the Karlovy Vary Region and Bavaria, and possibly also for freight transport from the Ústí nad Labem Region," Kupka emphasised. The current development of European transport legislation, seeking to make freight transport greener, reducing emissions in transport and using synthetic fuels, was not left out of the discussion either.