A planning agreement for the upgrading and electrification of the Chemnitz – Bad Lausick – Leipzig line was signed on September 7 by Mr Martin Dulig, transport minister of the state of Saxony, and Mr Eckart Fricke, group representative of German Rail for Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

DB announced in June that it had given the go-ahead for the project, which is being upgraded to a priority scheme in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan.

Preliminary planning was completed in 2014 and Saxony has allocated €10m in its current budget to take the scheme forward.

The upgrading of the line is a prerequisite for the reconnection of Chemnitz and southwestern Saxony to the German inter-city network.

An interim concept for short-term service enhancements on the route was unveiled by Central Saxony Transport Authority (ZVMS) in July. Under these plans, rolling stock currently used on regional express Line RE 6 services will be replaced by trains formed of both single-deck coaches and more modern double-deck coaches. This will raise capacity to 350 seats, an increase of 50 seats compared with the current trains, while offering improved facilities such as passenger Wi-Fi and wheelchair-accessible toilets.

The transitional concept, which is due to be rolled out from the first quarter of next year, also includes localising train maintenance in Chemnitz and the introduction of a direct Chemnitz – Berlin service.