Rastatt Tunnel

The Rastatt Tunnel is a railway tunnel that is currently under construction on the Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed railway under Rastatt in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Once complete, the line will be used by long-distance passenger services and freight.^[1] It will form part of the Rotterdam–Genoa corridor; the tunnel is also part of the Main line for Europe (Magistrale für Europa in German and Magistrale européenne in French; Paris–Budapest).

Having been under consideration since the 1970s, and given planning approval during 1996, the tunnel's construction was delayed by decades due to a lack of financing.^[2] During 2013, construction finally commenced with the awarding of a contract to Arbeitsgemeinschaft Tunnel Rastatt ("Rastatt tunnel construction community"). In 2012, it was projected that Rastatt Tunnel should be opened during 2022.^[3] Being financed by the German federal government, early projections forecast a total cost of around €693 million.

On 12 August 2017, there was a collapse during the construction of the tunnel's eastern bore. This collapse not only affected the tunnel, but also stopped operations on the Rhine Valley Railway, disrupting international rail traffic; the line was not reopened until on 2 October 2017. While construction work on the unaffected western bore was resumed during September 2017, the eastern bore was intentionally sealed with concrete as a measure to stabilise the ground. The project was re-planned to account for the collapse; as of August 2019, the eastern bore is intended to be dug out using traditional cut-and-cover construction methods. The Rhine Valley Railway will also be relocated during the renewed construction phase to minimise the potential impact of further instability. As of February 2021, the tunnel's overall completion date has been set back to the "end of 2026".^[4]