Full platforms, overcrowded trains, delays and cancellations: anyone who commutes to the city by S-Bahn from Heimstetten or Feldkirchen experiences the congestion of the S 2 at rush hour first hand. Now the Bavarian Transport Minister Kerstin Schreyer (CSU) wants to achieve the four-track expansion of the route with a push. A planning contract was signed with Deutsche Bahn. Kirchheim’s mayor Maximilian Böltl (CSU) absolutely supports the traffic offensive. In Feldkirchen it is received more cautiously.
Maximilian Böltl is spokesman for the S-Bahn Alliance East, which was founded in 2015 by the communities of Aschheim, Kirchheim, Poing and Markt Schwaben as well as the districts of Munich, Ebersberg and Erding. The Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Chamber of Crafts and the Munich Trade Fair are also among the initiators. The aim of the alliance is precisely the four-track expansion of the railway line – with a connection to the trade fair.
So far, according to Böltl, only an expansion to the Ostbahnhof and from Markt Schwaben had been planned. There would be enormous disadvantages for the neighboring communities: With more freight and long-distance traffic, one would have to reckon with more noise without real noise protection. Since the resulting bottleneck would be more prone to failure, the cycle would also become less reliable. “If the axis is to be planned completely consistently, then of course we welcome that,” says Böltl. This can prevent the section between Munich East and Markt Schwaben from becoming a bottleneck. In addition, the residents would benefit from the legally required noise protection systems.
In the neighboring municipality of Feldkirchen, people are “cautiously positive” in view of the announcements made by the ministry, as Second Mayor Herbert Vanvolsem (CSU) says. “It’s nice that a concrete expansion perspective is being created.” However, it is important to him that Feldkirchen is involved in the planning at an early stage and that the interests of the community are taken into account, for example with regard to noise protection. “This is what we have to focus on in Feldkirchen.”
However, there has been enormous resistance in Feldkirchen to a rail connection to the fair, which the ministry wants to examine, which the community maintains, according to Vanvolsem. Last December, representatives of the S-Bahn alliance presented previous plans: According to this, the tracks of the current route on the western outskirts of Feldkirchen are to be swiveled out. At a height of several meters, the new post-and-beam route would lead in the direction of the exhibition center, where the trains would stop at a high station on Paul-Henri-Spaak-Straße. The Feldkirchner see this critically, the new route would cut off a good two hectares of area from the municipality. Due to the proximity to the place, residents and local politicians fear massively more noise. The advantages with which the S-Bahn alliance is promoting the project – a more frequent cycle and the relief of the route – can, according to the people of Feldkirch, also be achieved without a connection to the trade fair.
Kirchheim’s mayor Böltl is in favor of assessing the expansion independently of the panning of the trade fair. As a spokesman for the alliance, he has always attached great importance to the involvement of Feldkirchen. Parallel to the four-track expansion, the U 2 is to be extended: its route could be led from the Messestadt Ost station south of the A94 to Feldkirchen, then along the M1 district road to Heimstetten, where it could be linked to the S-Bahn. The connection to the trade fair would come automatically, and sometimes even a connection to the airport, should the Erdinger ring closure come. The CSU in Kirchheim and Feldkirchen applied together in the spring to examine this. In both places, the local politicians of the responsible committees are in favor of the project.