Together with the city of Hamburg, Deutsche Bahn (DB) is examining the construction of a new railway tunnel between Altona and Hamburg Central Station. With almost 300 trains per day, the route is a bottleneck. The aim of the new S-Bahn tunnel is to create more capacity on the busy route and thus make environmentally friendly rail travel in the greater Hamburg area even more attractive. The punctuality of all trains in the Hamburg hub is to be increased and the main station relieved. This makes the tunnel an important project for the Deutschlandtakt. The DB, the federal government and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg gave the starting signal for a corresponding feasibility study today in the Hamburg Parliament's Transport Committee.

Ronald Pofalla, DB Infrastructure Board Member: "The section between the two major long-distance train stations is one of the busiest routes in Germany. With the tunnel, we want to get even more traffic in the metropolis onto environmentally friendly rails. It creates space for long-distance traffic and relieves the rail network. This is not only important for the Deutschlandtakt, but also of central importance for the traffic turnaround in Hamburg. So the people in the north benefit in a very concrete way. Because Hamburg is the central rail junction in northern Germany. And with the Fehmarnbelt tracks, the Hanseatic city will soon also be the gateway to Scandinavia.”

dr Anjes Tjarks, Senator for Transport and Mobility Transition: "The new tunnel is a central key for the German cycle at one of the most important railway junctions in Germany. With the Deutschlandtakt we are significantly improving the national and international accessibility of Hamburg. The people of Hamburg themselves benefit from more national connections that reach all travel destinations in Germany much faster. At the same time, the tunnel will also strengthen regional traffic and thus allow the metropolitan region to grow closer together. Hamburg will actively participate in the feasibility study of an S-Bahn tunnel. What is also particularly important to me is that, together with Deutsche Bahn, we will involve people in this project that is central to Hamburg – the starting signal for this will be given today.”

The project: Hamburg's S-Bahn lines are to run on two underground tracks through the "connecting railway relief tunnel" on the route between Altona and the main station. With that, today's two could S-Bahn tracks for regional and long-distance traffic are rebuilt. These would have four instead of two tracks available.

Text, map from original German language press notice of  Deutschebahn

https://www.deutschebahn.com/pr-hamburg-de/aktuell/presseinformationen-regional/Startschuss-fuer-Machbarkeitsstudie-Neuer-Bahntunnel-zwischen-Altona-und-Hauptbahnhof--7194512