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Chunnel charges hit Frankfurt-London link

Plans to run fast German trains from Frankfurt to London, long dogged by delay and difficulty, have been hit with another problem – it will cost so much to send the trains through the Channel Tunnel, the entire project could be unprofitable.

Chunnel charges hit Frankfurt-London link
Photo: DPA

Ulrich Homburg, head of personal transport at Deutsche Bahn, said on Thursday the amount charged for trains to use the tunnel was, “20 times the amount on comparable German stretches.”

And even once the trains have got into the UK, the high-speed sections of track there will still cost around ten times what it costs in Germany.

Yet despite the cost, Homburg insisted, “The connection is not in doubt.”

The idea had been to have the service up and running for the London Olympics this summer, but that target has long been abandoned.

Negotiations with French authorities over licenses for the German trains took a long time, and Siemens, which was building them, then also made delays. These are currently putting the latest target date of 2015 in doubt.

But Homburg said he was confident. “We are waiting for a final ‘Go’,” he said. Siemens is aiming to deliver 10 of the eventual 16 new ICE-3 trains this year.

Even if no deal can be made to reduce the tunnel rail fees, Deutsche Bahn is in good shape to pay the extra cash – it announced increased revenues and profits from last year.

A statement released on Thursday showed a 26 percent profit increase in 2011 compared with the previous year, reaching a high of €1.133 billion. Passenger numbers rose by 1.6 percent to a record 1.98 billion, it said.

DAPD/AFP/The Local/hc

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TRANSPORT

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

Lines M3 and M4 of the Copenhagen Metro are back in service having reopened on Sunday, one day ahead of schedule.

Copenhagen Metro lines reopen after two-week closure

The two lines had been closed so that the Metro can run test operations before opening five new stations on the M4 line this summer.

The tests, which began on February 10th, are now done and the lines were running again as of Sunday evening, a day ahead of the original planned reopening on Monday February 26th.

“We are very pleased to be able to welcome our passengers on to our two lines M3 and M4,” head of operations with the Metro Søren Boysen said.

“The whole test procedure exceeded all expectations and went faster than expected and we can therefore get a head start on our reopening now,” he said.

Time set aside for potential repeat tests was not needed in the event, allowing the test closures to be completed ahead of time.

“Several of our many tests went better than expected and we have therefore not used all the time we needed for extra tests,” Boysen said.

The two lines serve around one million passengers every week, according to the Metro company.

READ ALSO: Copenhagen city government greenlights extension to Metro line

The new stops on the M4 line will be located south of central Copenhagen in the Valby and Sydhavn areas. The will have the names Haveholmen, Enghave Brygge, Sluseholmen, Mozarts Plads and København Syd (Copenhagen South).

The M3 and M4 lines, the newer sections of the Metro, opened in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

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