Laimer train station is not exactly a gem at the moment. Excavators and construction fences dominate the scene there. Deutsche Bahn (DB) is completely rebuilding the station so that in the future passengers can change from the first S-Bahn main line to the second main line directly on a platform. Since the end of January, passengers have had to accept a restriction that primarily affects people with limited mobility. After a good two and a half years of operation, the DB shut down the temporary elevator to the platform at the end of January so that the old platform A could be demolished.
Munich resident Jaqueline Rietzel speaks of “insanity” at the S-Bahn station. “This affects me as a mother who transports my child in a stroller, as well as people with walkers, wheelchairs, walking difficulties, a lot of luggage, etc.,” she says. “The staff told me that I could first go to Pasing – i.e. by bus – and then take the lift to the platform.” Rietzel uses the S-Bahn station once or twice a week. At least she has always found someone to help her carry the stroller up or down the stairs.
This is difficult for wheelchair users. Brigitte Neumann-Latour, who deals with the issue of mobility at the Munich Advisory Board for the Disabled, is correspondingly upset. At the time, the advisory board had successfully advocated for an interim elevator. However, the commitment to a subsequent solution was in vain. Neumann-Latour is convinced: “If we had sat down together at an early stage, a solution would have been possible with good will.”
As a reminder: The DB put the now closed elevator into operation in May 2021 so that the station remains barrier-free accessible during construction work. The original lift had to make way for the construction work. The new track 1, which went into operation in August 2023, was directly accessible with the temporary solution. The S-Bahn trains that travel out of town stop here. Via the stop on the mezzanine, passengers reached the elevator to platform B with tracks 2 and 3, on which trains run into the city. Now there is only one escalator to platform 1.
The railway did not install the temporary lift entirely voluntarily. This only happened after massive protests. Now the DB says: There is no more room for another temporary solution. “The Laim station will be completely demolished and rebuilt from north to south while operations continue. In the construction phase, which will be carried out in 2024, there will actually not be a single square meter between the platforms that will not be affected,” said a spokesman.
There will only be new elevators in the course of 2025, when the northern part of the so-called environmental composite tube is finished. The new main entrance to Laim station is located at this new underpass for pedestrians and local public transport at the eastern end of the station, and the new elevators are also located there. The DB points out that passengers at the Laimer roundabout can use four bus lines to alternatively get to Pasing, the U5 at Laimer Platz or Romanplatz. For barrier-free access to the S-Bahn, the DB recommends using the Pasing and Hirschgarten stations. Bus lines 130 and 157 directly connect the Laim and Pasing stations. Passengers can also take bus 57 and tram 19 to Pasinger Bahnhof.