The most important infrastructure project in Munich will be completed later and will cost significantly more than planned. Bavaria’s Minister of Transport expresses clear criticism of the Federal Minister of Transport, who broke up a crisis meeting at short notice.
The second main S-Bahn route in Munich will be significantly more expensive and will be completed years later than previously planned. According to information from the Bavarian Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU), the costs will increase from 3.8 billion to 7.2 billion euros and the first trains will not run in 2028, but only in 2037. These are figures from the project support in the ministry. They wanted to compare this information with that of the railways, but the railways did not disclose them, according to Bernreiter. “We have continuously confronted Deutsche Bahn with our numbers,” he continued.
A crisis meeting with Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) was originally planned for this Thursday. He canceled his participation on Wednesday evening without giving reasons and did not offer an alternative date. “For me, that’s very, very bad style. I’ll make it clear: Mr. Wissing pinches,” said Bernreiter. He does not know why the Federal Minister canceled the appointment in Munich. He has been waiting for the meeting, which should also deal with the construction of the second trunk line, for three and a half months. His ministry has announced that Wissing will not be able to come to Bavaria in the foreseeable future either.
It is completely unclear what effects the delay and the additional costs will have on other infrastructure projects – such as Munich Central Station. Bavaria acknowledges its responsibility, the second regular route is extremely important, Bernreiter said. He is now demanding a clear commitment from the federal government.
Munich’s Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) also called for reliable statements on federal funding in a written statement on Thursday morning. “I very much hope that the responsible project sponsors, the federal government, the Free State and Deutsche Bahn, will do everything in their power to ensure that Germany’s largest infrastructure project does not become a second Berlin Airport (BER).” Reiter was extremely disappointed that the appointment with Federal Transport Minister Wissing was canceled at short notice. The second trunk route is urgently needed to relieve the Munich S-Bahn system.
All Munich S-Bahn trains currently have to pass under the city center in a tunnel on the main route opened in 1972 for the Olympic Games. In order to remove this bottleneck, a second trunk line is being built over a distance of around ten kilometres. In October 2016, the federal and state governments agreed on joint financing. According to this, the federal government bears 60 percent of the eligible construction costs. It was based on the total costs of 3.85 billion euros calculated by Deutsche Bahn at the time.