Fulda–Gerstungen high-speed line to start construction in 2032 at earliest

The roughly 41 km new line between Fulda (junction near Langenschwarz) and Gerstungen near Eisenach is planned to run via Bad Hersfeld, with 28 km of tunnels and a design speed of 230 km/h, also carrying heavy night freight trains up to 1,700 tonnes. Per the 2022 planning schedule, construction is not due to start until December 2032, with commissioning targeted for September 2037 — clearly refuting the originally assumed date of 2030-12-31. Investment volume per the source: approximately EUR 5 billion (2015 price level); the project sponsor is DB Netz AG / DB InfraGO.