Cross-border rail connection between Leer and Groningen will be resumed

For more than a decade, trains no longer ran on the railway line between Leer in East Frisia and Groningen in the Netherlands. This Thursday (12 p.m.) the cross-border rail connection is to be resumed with a special trip. Philipp Nagl, CEO of the rail infrastructure company Infrago, and Lower Saxony's Transport Minister Grant Hendrik Tonne (SPD) are expected to attend the opening ceremony of the extensively renovated route in Weener (Leer district).

The resumption of the connection is also a first step in the realization of the so-called “Wunderline”, which is intended to make rail travel between Groningen and Bremen faster and more comfortable in the future. Regional trains are scheduled to run again on the Leer-Groningen route from October 5th.

Part of the railway line is the new Frisian Bridge over the Ems, which was opened for pedestrians and cyclists last summer - according to the railway, it is the largest railway hub-swing bridge in Europe. Since a freighter rammed and destroyed the then closed bascule bridge near Weener in 2015, the Ems crossing was interrupted for rail traffic and with it cross-border train traffic to the Netherlands.