Many new train lines and changes to routes have been announced in past years and decades. The special thing about the Rhein-Ruhr-Ex­press, now known to many as RXX, is that it will have its own line built especially for the route, at least in sections.

An 84km long track for regional railway is planned on the central axis between Cologne and Dort­mund where modern trains will link the Rhine-Ruhr and Westphalia regions in 15 minute intervals. A total of six RRX routes are planned, but a parallel line between Müns­ter and Düs­sel­dorf is not included. The stations at the far end of the lines will be Ko­blenz in the south, Aa­chen and Em­me­rich in the west, Müns­ter in the north and Min­den in the east. The NRW Ministry for Transport estimates that the RRX will move over 24,000 passenger journeys from the road to the train tracks. In total, two million commuters will benefit from the better range of journeys available. The new network should be completed in the years 2030 to 2035.

The works will start with the section between Cologne-Mül­heim and Cologne-Stamm­heim. According to the German Railway, the distances between the S-Bahn tracks will be extended so that goods trains can also use these and will no longer slow down the faster passenger trains. This should be completed in June. Other works will be ongoing for many years. As announced by the German Railway at the cutting of the spade ceremony, planning permission has been granted for construction of two of the 14 sections. All 14 sections must be individually approved. Nevertheless, the first trains should be travelling across the region from December 2018, which is when the RRX first operation begins.

According to the NRW Ministry of Transport, the entire project - including procurement of 82 new RRX trains - will cost around 3.45 billion euros. As is often the case with large projects, the excitement about RRX is not felt everywhere. In the Düsseldorf district of An­ger­mund for example, an action group has been set up against the planned sound barriers and in favour instead of constructing a kind of enclosure where the tracks are built lower down with a roof over the top.

In any case, it will be some years before the complete expansion of the infrastructure is finished. Enak Fer­le­mann, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport, reminded of this at the cutting of the spade ceremony, when he asked the public for their patience: “Please don’t curse the construction workers, they are doing this on our behalf”.

(Original text: Rüdiger Franz/ga/dpa, Translation: Caroline Payne)