Planned strategic line

In 1916 work began on a bypass of the Kaiser Wilhelm Tunnel (which had major ventilation problems in the age of steam, which grew with rapidly growing traffic, particularly as a major supply route to the Western Front during the first World War) along the southern side of the Moselle from Bullay to Karden along part of the Cochemer Krampen bends. The new construction was demanded by the German military as a strategic railway. Construction was abandoned in 1923. A 2,650 metre-long tunnel was finished between Treis and Bruttig; its portals were blown up in 1945. The never-used railway embankment still runs through most of the twin town of Bruttig-Fankel.

During the Second World War the tunnels were used for the production of a variety of armaments. A concentration camp was established in Bruttig to house prison labourers for this work. Today an old barracks of the camp remains, there are also old crosses in the cemetery marking these events.

Plans to bypass Trier

Planning was carried out before the First World War to provide a double track bypass for freight avoiding Trier and Ehrang to create a better connection to the Saar. In 1917 construction began on a massive 600 metre-long viaduct in concrete with natural stone facing on the northern bank of the Moselle at Quint. The bypass line would have joined the existing line in Schweich. Construction of the main structures were completed in the early 1920s, but the line was never opened. The viaduct existed until 1979, when it was demolished, with its material used to extend the B53 highway.

Modernisation

It was proposed in the 1950s to electrify the lines of the Saar with the modern French electrification system (25 kV, 50 Hz). Instead it was decided to canalise the Moselle between France and Germany. The Koblenz–Trier line was electrified in 1973, which is marked by a plaque at Trier station. On 16 January 1995,^[2] a centralised traffic control centre at Wittlich Hbf was put into operation, remotely controlling several signal boxes.

Current plans

The Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan included a proposal to upgrade the Luxembourg–Trier–Koblenz–Mainz line for the use of tilting trains.^[3] These plans have been abandoned. In the call for bids published by the Northern Railway Authority of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate^[4] issued on 3 November 2010, a completely new rail schedule was drawn starting in December 2014. The proposed contract covers 3,700,000 km per year from 2014 to 2029.^[5] Being part of the statewide synchronized timetable "Rheinland-Pfalz-Takt 2015", electric multiple unit express trains will run from Koblenz to Trier. In Trier the trains will be split and merged, one half going to and coming from Mannheim (via Saarbrücken), the other to and from Luxembourg. The train going to Luxembourg will be operated by the CFL. The hourly running local trains will all be at Koblenz at every full hour, at Trier every half-hour, to minimize changing times and to give best connections in every direction.^[6]

In early 2010 construction began on the second bore of the Kaiser Wilhelm Tunnel in Ediger-Eller. This was necessary in order to rehabilitate the existing tunnel.^[7] Although the new bore will be completed in 2012, it will only be single track. The old double track bore will then be rehabilitated and receive a single track. This work shall be completed in 2016, so for at least four years major changes in the timetables will be necessary.^[8]

Long-distance passenger services

After the abolition of Interregio services, they were replaced by InterCity (IC) services on line 31 operating between Luxembourg and Norddeich Mole or Emden at two-hour intervals. From December 2005 until December 2011 a pair of Intercity-Express (ICE) services of line 10 operated from Trier to Berlin, providing a daily service to the region. In November 2011, ICE services were discontinued and long-distance services were reduced to only two IC trains per day on the line.^[9] This service ended on 13 December 2014 with the introduction of the Rhineland-Palatinate integrated regular interval service (Rheinland-Pfalz-Taktes 2015) on the line.^[10]

Since the 2018 annual timetable, a daily pair of trains has again been running between Düsseldorf and Luxembourg. (Stadler KISS) double-deck multiple units of the CFL are used. On the Koblenz–Trier railway, the train runs as an RE, between Koblenz and Düsseldorf as an IC on behalf of DB Fernverkehr with the option of reserving seats and taking bicycles.^[11]

Local and regional services

143 031 with an RE service to Koblenz near Trier-Ehrang

Regional transport has a major role on the Moselle line. Hourly express trains were introduced between Koblenz and Saarbrücken when the national regular interval timetable was established in 1985. This was followed in 1991 with the introduction of an hourly local service. In the summer of 2000 a service, known as the Moselle S-Bahn, was introduced between Wittlich and Trier, operating for part of the day at approximately 30-minute intervals.

The two Regionalbahn services use class 425 and 426 multiple units.

The Regional-Express trains between Koblenz and Mannheim are mostly composed of vehicles of class 429. These services run once an hour in each direction.

After the timetable change 2010/2011 on 12 December 2010, a Regional-Express service ran twice daily on the Luxembourg–Trier–Wittlich route. This service was operated by the CFL (the Luxembourg state railway company) with bi-level cars.

In July 2011, the Zweckverband SPNV-Nord transport authority announced that DB Regio West had won the tender for the local network called "RE Südwest E-Traktion". From December 2014 to December 2029, an hourly service (RE 1) is being operated on the Koblenz–Kaiserslautern route, continuing every two hours to Mannheim. Trains arrive/depart from Koblenz on the hour and arrive/depart Mannheim at 30 minute past the hour. Since 14 December 2014, RE 1 services have been operate with multiple units of DB class 429.1.

CFL was expected to provide from December 2014 an hourly connection between Trier and Luxembourg (RE 11) with Stadler KISS multiple units, connecting in Trier with the services to/from Koblenz. Due to work required for technical adaptation, this connection was not introduced until March 2015.

Freight

This railway line holds a major flow of heavy iron ore trains from the North Sea ports to the Dillinger Hütte steelworks in the Saarland.