With the timetable change in 2022, the state government has kept one of its transport policy promises and also introduced a 20-minute interval during peak hours on the east branch of the S 7 from Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn to Aying. However, not all residents benefit from the improvements on the single-track route, because the majority of the additional trains simply rush past the stations in the two Aying districts of Peiß and Dürrnhaar. Criticism of this is now growing; in Dürrnhaar, activists from the S 7 Ost-plus initiative are even collecting signatures for better connections to the local train station.
The initiative is supported by Aying’s mayor Peter Wagner (CSU). On the one hand, says Wagner, he is very happy about “significant improvements” on the east branch of the S 7. “We got the promised increase in frequency with one additional train per hour, also from Aying to the Kreuzstraße stop, where previously there was only hourly,” says the head of town hall. “But the fact that Dürrnhaar and Peiß aren’t served with the additional trains is a real annoyance. I can’t understand that.”
A total of 13 S-Bahn trains heading into town and 18 trains heading out of town rush past at least one of the two stops in the small districts without stopping – in most cases even both. Much to the annoyance of Dürrnhaarerin Jutta Stricker, who is involved in the S 7 Ost-plus initiative. She demands that the trains have to stop everywhere. “Many S-Bahn users also come from Faistenhaar and Hofolding, which are about two kilometers away, or from Egmating,” says Stricker. “You can’t just ignore Dürrnhaar. It’s cheeky like that.”
The response to the signature campaign, which she organized in Dürrnhaar together with the Green Party Councilor Christine Squarra, was enormous, says Stricker; she herself has already collected around 200 signatures in the village with just over 600 inhabitants. “There are also many who no longer take the S-Bahn, precisely because the connection is so bad,” says Stricker.
There is even a rental bike station in Dürrnhaar
Aying’s Mayor Wagner has meanwhile contacted Kerstin Schreyer (CSU), member of the state parliament and former Bavarian Minister of Transport, and asked the ministry she previously led to improve the connection to the train stations. Because only with an optimal connection to all stops can people be motivated to switch from cars to local public transport – and the municipality of Aying, together with the neighboring municipalities, is setting a good example. “Together with Brunnthal and Sauerlach, we have the new Flexbus, which is very well received and also connects the S-Bahn stations,” emphasizes Wagner. “And in Dürrnhaar there is even an MVG rental station.”
Wagner cannot explain why the two stops in Dürrnhaar and Peiß are not served by so many S-Bahn trains. “I’m still waiting for a statement from the railways because I would like to understand it,” he says. Stricker believes it could also be about money, because every single stop has to be paid for, she suspects. “But that’s just an assumption,” says Stricker. As the operator, DB Regio, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, had always argued in the past – when the two stations had already been partially omitted – that the number of commuters at the stations was too low. That’s why the S 7 Ost-plus initiative started a signature campaign ten years ago. An inquiry from SZ to Deutsche Bahn about the reasons for omitting the stops in Dürrnhaar and Peiß has so far remained unanswered.