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U5 Visualisierung Haltestelle City Nord

The U5 for Hamburg

May we introduce? Germany's largest underground railway project!

22 new stops across the city, fully automated and sustainably built: The U5 will profoundly change Hamburg's mobility.

Big city, big plans: more and more people want to live in Hamburg. In just a few years, there will be around two million people here. But even today there is hardly any space left on Hamburg's streets. To ensure that everyone can get around easily, mobility must grow with them. And that means on the railway. That's why HOCHBAHN is building the new U5 underground line.


With stops at important locations such as the university (43,000 students), the UKE (11,000 jobs) and the arenas, as well as in districts such as City Nord (30,000 jobs), Steilshoop and Bramfeld, we can say that almost everyone in Hamburg will be travelling on the U5 at some point in the future. And of course it will be barrier-free throughout. 22 new stops are being built along 25 kilometres of the line. Around 315,000 passengers will use the new line every day.


This makes the U5 Germany's largest underground railway project and will provide a service that has never been available in our country before. As a fully automatic underground railway, it can run every 90 seconds.


It will run completely emission-free on 100 per cent green electricity. However, in order to make Hamburg's mobility environmentally friendly, we are not just starting with the operation of the U5, but with its planning and construction. In the ‘Sustainability’ section on this page, you can find out how we are using a reduction strategy to build the most climate-friendly underground railway in Germany.

The U5 will run here later:

Der Streckenverlauf der Linie U5 durch Hamburg
HOCHBAHN

The U5 at a glance:

Sustainability

Planung

The reduction strategy:

In order to reduce CO2 emissions during construction, we have developed a two-pillar reduction strategy. The first pillar comprises the optimisation of all planning services, the second the concrete minimisation of CO2 during the construction of the U5.

Nachhaltigkeit

-70 per cent:

If construction were to continue as before, CO2 emissions would total 2.7 million tonnes. Thanks to optimised planning and the expected technological development of the cement and steel industry, CO2 emissions can be reduced by 70 percent to 850,000 tonnes.

Bauarbeiten

This is how we make concrete savings:

  • Contracts for construction are only awarded to sustainable companies that are committed to using environmentally friendly building materials
  • We only use the most environmentally friendly cements and steels available on the market
  • We use 100 per cent certified green electricity for all construction processes
  • We focus on sustainable land management and transport, e.g. by ship or train instead of on the roads

The construction phases:

Bauarbeiten

Bramfeld - City Nord

Before the tunnel machine can make its way along this first section, which is almost six kilometres long, the excavation pits for the four new U5 stops and six emergency exits have to be built. This has been taking place along the route since the ground-breaking ceremony in autumn 2022. The tunnel machine is expected to start from the shaft east of the Sengelmannstraße stop in the direction of Bramfeld from 2027. Once it has bored and lined the tunnel, construction of the stops can begin. We expect it to take around two years to build each stop.

However, while construction is still underway in the east of Hamburg, the U5 is already scheduled to run. We are planning a trial run on the section between Sengelmannstraße and City Nord from 2027, followed by operation with passengers from 2029.

Planung

City Nord - Jarrestraße

The planning for this section was completed in summer 2024. The next step will be the review by the planning approval authority, which will then issue the building permit. If this is granted, the first preparatory construction measures could take place in 2026, followed by construction work on the tunnel and stations.

The U5 is scheduled to stop at Borgweg as early as 2033 and will also allow passengers to change to the U3 here. The Jarrestraße stop is also expected to open in 2035. Three emergency exits will also be built along the 2.6 kilometre route. In addition to the two stops, the emergency exits and the section of track between the Borgweg and Jarrestraße stops will be open. The sections between City Nord and Borgweg and south of Jarrestraße will be bored underground using a tunnelling machine. The costs for this section will amount to around 1.5 billion euros. The Hamburg Senate has already approved the funding. An application for funding will also be submitted to the federal government for this section.

Planung

Jarrestraße - Arenas

On the following sections through the city centre to the arenas, the in-depth planning is in various stages, such as design and approval planning.

On its way from Jarrestraße, the U5 will run through St. Georg via the main railway station through the city centre to the university. From there it will continue northwards, connecting the UKE to the underground network, and from Siemersplatz it will turn westwards and terminate at the arenas.