New EuroAirport rail link
The project in a nutshell
Today, EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freibourg is only accessible by road. Tomorrow, with the addition of a six-kilometre section of railway track and a new stop opposite the airport terminal, the train will offer passengers a true alternative to the road.
The project for a new rail link to EuroAirport, to be brought into service by 2028, is currently under development. The aim of the rail link is to offer direct and efficient connections to EuroAirport from:
- Laufen, Liestal and Basel in Switzerland; and
- Strasbourg, Sélestat, Colmar and Mulhouse in France.
The connections to these cities will serve a large tri-national territory covering Alsace, northern Franche-Comté, northwestern Switzerland, and southern Baden.
The implementation of the rail link requires:
- six kilometres of new rail track branching off from the existing Starsbourg - Mulhouse - Basel line; and
- the erection of a new train stop in immediate proximity to the Airport.
More generally, the new link project will enhance all mobilities in the tri-national area.
For more information on the project, visit the dedicated site at www.sncf-reseau.com/fr/reseau/grand-est/eapbyrail
Public interest inquiry
On 11 October 2021, the Préfecture du Haut-Rhin initiated a public interest inquiry, to last four weeks until 9 November 2021, on the Nouvelle Liaison Ferroviaire – the new rail link. The public inquiry is designed to inform the public about an finished project, to collect people’s views and to encourage public debate on the project. The inquiry is open to all, everyone can express their opinion provided they do so in French through the channels made available for this purpose.
For further information, see: www.sncf-reseau.com/fr/reseau/grand-est/nouvelle-liaison-ferroviaire-euroairport/enquete-publique-convention-espoo
Link to the public inquiry: www.registre-numerique.fr/eapbyrail
Project managers
The project is steered by four project managers:
As the main contractor, SNCF Réseau is responsable for the technical, operational, and capacity studies, as well as for project assessment and the evaluation of the environmental impact of the new link and train stop.
Basel-Mulhouse Airport (EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg) is the contracting authority in charge of the technical studies for the restoral of networks and road and pedestrian flows at the Airport, as well as the air traffic study.
The Région Grand Est, as the organising authority for regional passenger rail transport (TER) and non-urban road transport (school and regular inter-city lines), contributes to the definition of EuroAirport services and participates in steering the studies with the contractors.
The Federal Office of Transport is responsible for implementing Swiss transport policy. As such, it participates in steering the studies with the contractors.
Project governance is conducted by two tri-national bodies:
- a steering committee, which presides over decisions on the implementation of the new EuroAirport rail link; and
- a technical committee, which is associated in the studies and prepares decisions for the steering committee.
Apart from the project managers, the following bodies and authorities are part of the project governance:
- The French State
- Agglo Basel (Trireno, the area under the remit of the Agglo Basel association grouping the seven organising authorities of the “trinationale S-Bahn Basel”)
- Cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Basel-City
- Département du Haut-Rhin, Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération, Saint-Louis Agglomération, Ville de Saint-Louis
- Land of Baden-Württemberg
- Landkreis Lörrach
- Swiss Federal Railways (SBB / CFF)