The plans for the northern access to the Brenner Pass are evidently more concrete – and with them the annoyance of the neighboring communities, through which the trains are to run at close intervals in the future. Part of the route, which should better connect Munich with northern Italy and at the same time relieve the highways, will also run through the region. There, the residents of the communities from Grafing to Trudering are particularly concerned about their S-Bahn traffic, as the existing tracks will be used significantly more by freight trains in the future. The Kirchseeon market is now calling on Deutsche Bahn to finally enter into the promised dialogue.
The step initiated by the local railway noise working group is a reaction to a letter from the railway in which the company announces that it will now start with the “detailed technical planning” of the route. According to Mayor Jan Paeplow (CSU), the first results should be available at the beginning of December. But he doesn’t know more either, as the town hall chief said at the latest meeting of the local council. At AK Bahnlärm, however, there are fears that at least the proverbial train may have already left, after all, changes to an existing plan will be difficult to make afterwards, as stated in a letter drawn up by the working group, which is sent to those responsible for the railways on behalf of the market community target.
Accordingly, with reference to the ongoing basic investigation, no concrete statements have been made to date on the capacity of the tracks in the area between Grafing and Trudering. “We therefore urgently and immediately expect the transmission of these bases and a real dialogue about the specific targets,” the letter continues. Deutsche Bahn had actually agreed to this dialogue with the municipalities involved. The responsible planners explained at a press conference in the summer of last year that the project was to be developed in constant exchange with those affected.
In Kirchseeon, however, you don’t feel particularly well integrated. “For three years we have been chasing the railway so that they can give us information,” said Green Councilor and railway noise activist Susanne Höpler at the meeting. Specifically, they want to know how many trains will now run through the community. “We need our S-Bahn,” said Höpler, who, like her colleagues in the other neighboring communities, fears that in future freight trains will have right of way on the four-track route and that there will be significantly more delays in local traffic. In order to avoid this, the long-demanded dialogue between the municipality and the railways should now take place. “We want a real say,” said Susanne Höpler and demanded: “Bahn, finally provide us with the facts!”
These are listed individually in the commune’s letter: In addition to submitting the established principles, the railway is to provide information about the planned noise protection, develop an operational simulation for the Grafing-Trudering section and provide information on the maximum speeds of the trains in the local area. The other requirements are well known, namely an unrestricted S-Bahn traffic with the possibility of development up to a ten-minute cycle guaranteed and the noise protection implemented according to the new building standard.
The latter is particularly important to the municipality. We welcome the investments that have already been made in the area of noise protection on the route from Austria to Munich, but these resulted exclusively from a feasibility study from 2016, as the municipality writes to the railway. At that time, Kirchseeon was still classified as noise-remedied, without taking into account the further local growth. “The majority of the citizens of Kirchseeon already suffer from unhealthy noise that far exceeds the limits for noise protection according to new building standards,” said the municipality. The planned northern inlet to the Brenner will certainly not reduce the burden, which is why “future-oriented planning with adequate noise protection” is needed.
To what extent the railway will respond to the new intervention of the market community remains to be seen. In any case, Mayor Paeplow is convinced that every careful planning needs its facts and figures. “That’s why I think it’s important that our questions are answered.”