Members of the Bundestag from four parliamentary groups are committed to freeing the Middle Rhine Valley from the noise of freight trains.

Now it is a matter of consistent implementation of the Rail Noise Protection Act of 2020, said Sandra Weeser (FDP), member of the Bundestag from Neuwied.

"We are also hoping for positive signals from the announced cost-benefit analysis for the new tunnel line from Troisdorf to Mainz-Bischofsheim.

That would be the gold variant.”

The analysis has been postponed again and again, said the Mainz Greens MP Tabea Rößner, who together with Weeser forms the board of the inter-parliamentary group "Bahnlärm".

"We're a bit impatient." The deputies - when the group was founded again, 15 came together, including from the SPD and CDU/CSU - are committed to the construction of the alternative route to the Middle Rhine being upgraded in the Federal Transport Route Plan.

As early as 2019, the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament declared in a resolution that it was unacceptable that the new Troisdorf-Mainz-Bischofsheim route had not been included in the urgent need of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan.

Modern braking technology in trains

The parliamentary group sees the Rail Noise Protection Act, which bans loud freight trains on the German rail network and prescribes modern braking technology for every wagon, as a personal success.

There are now technical possibilities that could recognize each wheel in the individual car, said Weeser.

"There is no lack of opportunities, it must now be implemented." This also includes consistent punishment for violations after the application of the law was initially suspended.

"With the urgent need to shift freight traffic to rail for climate protection, noise pollution is likely to increase," the parliamentary group said.

"We want to rely more on rail, and acceptance is very important there," said Rößner.

The deputies want to pay close attention to how Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) responds to their demands.

"He comes from Rhineland-Palatinate, knows the subject and the burdens," said Rößner.

"I hope that he can also make some progress." As Minister of Transport for Rhineland-Palatinate, Wissing campaigned in the Bundestag in March 2019 for the new construction of the alternative route east of the Rhine Valley and warned that economic interests should not outweigh the health interests of countless citizens.