Tenth anniversary of the City Tunnel in Leipzig and launch of the S-Bahn Central Germany

Ten years ago, a new era of local transport began for the Leipzig/Halle economic region and the surrounding area. With the completion of the approximately four-kilometer-long Leipzig City Tunnel, the new S-Bahn Central Germany also began operations on 15 December 2013. The anniversary will be celebrated in Leipzig on Thursday (10.00 a.m.). New transport contracts are also to be signed.

From the perspective of the passenger association Pro Bahn, the tunnel is a success - despite initial skepticism. "For passengers, this is a huge benefit that we wouldn't want to miss," said Carsten Schulze-Griesbach, spokesperson for the Leipzig-Halle region of Pro Bahn in Central Germany. However, passenger representatives criticize the fact that the plans were systematically too small. The result is that trains are now too short and overcrowded on certain routes.

From 2026, changes are planned for the S-Bahn Central Germany. Only some of the lines will then be operated by DB Regio, while other routes will be taken over by the rail company Netinera, to which Länderbahn belongs. In addition, there will be battery trains on the route to Döbeln, which will be operated by DB Regio. The contracts with the companies involved will be signed on Thursday.

The major City Tunnel project took around ten years to build. The costs rose considerably during this time, from an estimated 572 million euros to 960 million euros. According to Deutsche Bahn, around 90,000 passengers travel on the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland trains every day.