New line
New route ( NBS ) is the name given to completely newly built traffic routes in contrast to upgraded routes (ABS) that have arisen from existing routes through structural measures such as line improvements or the removal of junctions. Line relocations are also to be delimited, i.e. the construction of new lines in sections that replace previous lines. A new line is therefore always an additional line in the rail network . The terms are also used in road construction , but in common usage they always refer to railway lines .
In Germany, a number of large new lines have been built, especially since 1973. Since most of them are also high-speed routes (SFS), these terms are often mistakenly used synonymously. However, there are newly built railway lines that are not high-speed lines, and many SFS were created through line expansion, not new construction.
In Switzerland, the high-speed line Mattstetten – Rothrist , opened in 2004, is commonly referred to as the new line. The new lines also include the NEAT tunnels ( LBT and GBT ), the Vereina tunnel and numerous shorter lines such as the Zurich and Geneva airport railways or the Heitersberg line , the Born line , the gray wood line , the Zürichberg tunnel and the extension of the AOMC line in Champéry. This also includes the expansion of the tram networks in Zurich , Geneva , Bern and Basel as well as the new buildings of the TSOL / M1 and M2 in Lausanne . Borderline cases are short connecting routes that allow a bypass of a larger junction (Löchligut – Wankdorf near Bern 1967, Zurich Altstetten – Oerlikon 1969, Bussigny – Denges-Echandes 1971, Zurich Seebach – Opfikon 1979, Würenlos – Killwangen-Spreitenbach 1981) and the loop Sargans, which can also be viewed as the second track on the Sargans – Trübbach line , but saves the trains on the Zurich – Buchs route the hairpin.
An extensive network of new lines was first implemented in France for the TGV trains; in the meantime, corresponding lines have also been created in Spain, Italy, England, Belgium and the Netherlands, which are connected to the French TGV network or will be in the future.