The railway line between Nuremberg and Munich, Germany will be the country's first high-speed rail line designed for speeds over 300 km/h. Upgrades to the line, including large radii curves and gradients under 2.0%, will reduce travel time between the cities from 100 to 60 minutes. A technical innovation, rigid track construction, will be used due to the high speeds, as conventional ballast cannot sustain the dynamic forces at 300 km/h. A contract was awarded to construct a 35 km section of the 89 km new line between Nuremberg and Ingolstadt, which will include bridges, tunnels, embankments, and noise barriers.

1. The railway line between
Nuremberg and Munich will
be the first high-speed rail-
way line in Germany de-
signed for a travelling speed
of more than 300 km/h. The
time required for the trip on
the 171 kilometre-long railway
link will thus be reduced from
100 to 60 minutes. This is
made possible by providing
the new line between Nu-
remberg and Ingolstadt with
such design elements as
large radii and gradients not
exceedilng 2.0 per cent and
by improving the existing link
between Ingolstadt and
Munich.
Due to the high travelling
speeds, a technical innova-
tion was implemented on the
high-speed line: the rigid
track. At top speeds of up to
300 kilometres per hour,
conventional ballast beds
can no longer sustain the
dynamic forces produced.
The permanent way is there-
fore concreted as a trough
structure which takes up the
sleepers. To prevent the
sleepers from making unde-
sired movements, the trough
structure is subsequently
filled with concrete. This
ensures a stable positioning
of the tracks and reduces the
need for maintenance.
A joint venture under the
technical management of
Bilfinger Berger AG was
awarded the contract for the
construction of a 35 km long
section of the 89 km long
new railway line between
Nuremberg and Ingolstadt.
The works include six major
railway bridges with a total
length of 932 m, 26 minor
railway bridges and 11 road
bridges. The total length of
the bridge structures
amounts to 2.5 km. Two
tunnels with a total length of
3.6 km, 15.9 km of embank-
ment and 12.8 km of cuttings
are also part of the contract.
A total of 2.6 million m³ of
earth will be moved. In order
to reduce the noise pollution
in certain sections along the
railway line, 3.7 km of noise
barriers will be erected.
n Contract Value:
USD (m) 245.7
n Construction Period:
10/1998 - 09/2002
n Client:
Deutsche Bahn AG
n Services:
Construction of a 35 km
long section of a high-
speed railway line
Reg.66-bb-000-06.9.734-00
High-Speed
Railway Line
Ingolstadt-
Nuremberg