Deutsche Bahn is a service provider. The company’s core competence is to transport people or objects from one place to another. So far, so well known. In the debate about a new train route to the Brenner Base Tunnel, the group is also acting as a service provider – albeit in a slightly different role. Here it is the federal government that uses the railway service. The order is: Build us a double-track line on which both freight and passenger trains can run at up to 230 kilometers per hour. A clear announcement, which is also stipulated in the Federal Transport Route Plan.
Sections of this route, which is to be built, now also run through the southern district of Ebersberg – and there, as is well known, people are not very enthusiastic about the project. For months there has been fierce resistance to a route that leads across the countryside. Instead, the opponents are demanding that the existing train route be used as a feeder to the Brenner Pass. According to the planners, this is not possible due to the strict federal regulations. This is a more than unpleasant situation for the railways, as they are in a sense acting as a buffer between the client in Berlin and the residents in the Ebersberg district.
The latter, however, do not show much understanding for this situation, on the contrary: In an open letter, the participants in the dialogue forums recently announced that they would boycott talks with the railways for the time being. In any case, they have no ear for their core concern of expanding the existing train route. So far, hardly anyone has had the idea that the wrong person might be accused here. However, the Ebersberg representatives in state and federal politics in particular should be aware that the railways are primarily the executive body for the mega-project Brenner-Nordzulauf – with the instruction to implement the federal mandate in the best possible way.
Opponents of the route should not accuse the company of trying to get the local population on board from the start. Instead, it would be appropriate if the recently defiant dialogue participants followed the example of the mayor of Aßling, Hans Fent, and returned to the discussion table. Because only there can the best possible solutions for the citizens of Ebersberg be developed within the framework of the guidelines set by the federal government.