Shunting Drive to Open Dresdner Bahn (VP5) Railway

The inauguration drive is an important milestone for the section which in the future will relieve the railway hub in Berlin’s south and significantly reduce travel times to Dresden and BER airport.

Main aspects of the project focus on the area Berlin-Mahlow, with DB InfraGO AG acting as client. Colleagues from the construction management department at our Berlin branch signed responsible for construction supervision of the largest structures and accompanied construction until operation. Amongst them were “Mahlower Kurve” with its crossing structure, two trough structures (north/south), a lifting installation as well as cantilevered retaining walls. Those structures hold several long-distance train tracks.

The new section is, furthermore, enclosed by noise barriers to protect neighbouring city quarters from emissions. The section is designed for a high-speed ICE train with speeds of up to 200 km/h (160 km/h in built-up areas).

The shunting drive started in the afternoon at 3pm at station Berlin Südkreuz and arrived at stop point Berlin-Mahlow at 4pm. After the successful drive, company STRABAG invited everyone to a Christmas buffet at the event location “Saustall” in Mahlow.

In a nice atmosphere, we toasted to the successful construction execution and were given a preview of the next project steps.