In the Allgäu, electrification of the railways is a long time coming, which means all sorts of inconveniences for commuters. That would offer the opportunity to reactivate a vision by Edmund Stoiber.
Drivers and VW shareholders have known for a long time that diesel engines are problematic for air pollution control, but now train drivers too will soon have to deal with them – at least those in the Allgäu. Because most of the route network in the Bavarian southwest is not yet electrified, so there are no overhead lines. That’s why diesel locomotives pull commuters and tourists across the country. Sounds almost romantic, but it will soon be very uncomfortable because only a few diesel trains are allowed to enter Munich because of air pollution control. So many commuters have to change trains in Buchloe after a timetable change in December.
So far so annoying, but a remedy is in sight. However, no electrical overhead lines are to be built. That takes too long: it would take around 20 years to bring the Allgäu’s infrastructure up to the state of the art from 1950. It is only wise and sensible to think ahead right away. Hybrid solutions are under discussion: Either with catenary batteries or, and now it is politically problematic, with hydrogen batteries. Such trains already exist, they have been tested and will be used in Northern Germany next year, but it would be a concession to Hydrogen Minister Hubert Aiwanger that Prime Minister Markus Söder could presumably never allow.
Therefore, the CSU could reactivate an idea believed dead and at the same time give its former chairman a belated 80th birthday present: Finally, almost 20 years after Edmund Stoiber’s legendary speech about checking in at train stations, a Transrapid is leading from Munich to the airport. Not to Franz Josef Strauss Airport, but to Munich West. So to Memmingen, which has recently been expanded, there is a new baggage hall and you can now fly to Plovdiv in Bulgaria. So if you get into the main station without having to check in, take the Transrapid to the airport in ten minutes (well, maybe 20 to Munich-West), then you start practically at the main station. Of course, this also means that Memmingen Airport is basically growing closer to Bavaria, growing closer to the Bavarian cities, because that’s clear.