Munich Airport opened 30 years ago. To this day, it is poorly connected to rail transport and can only be reached with the S-Bahn lines S1 and S8 and the national airport express from Regensburg (Üfex) with stops in Landshut, Moosburg and Freising. The need is there: Around a third of travelers and employees travel to the airport by rail. With a better connection, there should be significantly more.
On Tuesday, the Bavarian Ministry of Transport presented a four-stage concept for better national rail connections. Stage 1 provides clock compressions on the S8. In addition, the Üfex could be extended beyond Regensburg to Nuremberg. The report mentions a planned tunnel-like structure to the west of the airport and the planned parking and turning facility in Schwaigerloh as the additional infrastructure required.
As stage 2, a regional S-Bahn from Ulm or Augsburg would be conceivable, which should then reach the airport in 25 minutes as an express S-Bahn from Munich Central Station. Also conceivable is a Üfex from Salzburg via Mühldorf to the airport, with a connection to Nuremberg. The prerequisites for this are the completion of the second main S-Bahn line and the Erdinger Ringschluss as well as the expansion of the ABS 38 line from Munich via Mühldorf to Freilassing and the double track expansion between Mammendorf and Malching.
Stage 3 provides for long-distance connections to Passau, Memmingen and Innsbruck as well as an express S-Bahn between Herrsching and the airport. This requires the four-track expansion Daglfing – Johanneskirchen, two-track sections between Landshut and Plattling, a four-track expansion between Laim and Moosach and turning tracks north of Ismaning or Johanneskirchen.
Finally, in stage 4, an extension of long-distance routes to the airport is being considered, for example from Zurich or Innsbruck. Long-distance lines to Leipzig or Vienna could also be routed via the airport. This would then require a new line from Ingolstadt to Munich via Neufahrn with a connection to the airport, as well as a new long-distance train station.
The projects are complex. When they can be realized and how much they would cost is still open. The second main route, for example, will not be completed before 2028, and the expansion of the Johanneskirchen – Daglfing route will not be completed before the end of the 2030s.