After a lot of bad news about the second S-Bahn main line in the recent past, Kai Kruschinski-Wüst is optimistic. 2024 will be a “year of departure,” says the overall project manager for the main route. On Wednesday he presented the construction schedule for this year. For the first time, work is now underway on the eastern section of the route, for which building rights have only been available since the end of 2023.
The eastern section includes, among other things, the tunnel from Marienhof to the tunnel portal west of Leuchtenbergring station. This also includes the new S-Bahn station at Ostbahnhof, which will be located on Friedenstrasse, the expanded Leuchtenbergring S-Bahn stop and several rescue shafts, including an underground structure in the Maximiliansanlagen on the eastern bank of the Isar.
The first step in this construction lot will take place in Sendling: Work will begin there this January on the new car train terminal at the Südbahnhof, which will serve as a replacement for the previous facility at the Ostbahnhof. This will be demolished for the future S-Bahn stop on Friedenstrasse. Otherwise, the eastern section will be awarded to construction companies this year. The first preparatory construction work for two rescue shafts is planned for this year.
At the other end of the main route, in Laim, the now advanced construction work continues. This year the focus is on the so-called environmental composite tube (UVR). Deutsche Bahn (DB) is building this tunnel for local public transport, cyclists and pedestrians under the tracks on behalf of the city. Among other things, the tram west tangent is supposed to cross under the tracks there. But it will still take a while until that happens. The DB will be able to hand over the shell of the tube to the city or the municipal utilities in 2027 at the earliest. While the northern part of the underpass has already been completed, work on the southern section will begin in 2024. This year, ceiling parts will be pushed in and excavation for the southern environmental composite pipe can begin from November. The middle part of the underpass can be built as the old platform 1 will be demolished this year.
At the same time, work is underway in Laim on the new east and west access building. Bad news for passengers: The elevators will then be shut down and expanded; it will not be until 2025 that platform 1 at Laimer train station will be barrier-free again accessible via the environmental composite tube.
Things could get tight for passengers
The railway’s largest ongoing construction site is the main station, where, among other things, a new reception building, a new underground station for the S-Bahn, a new building for the Starnberg wing station and a new subway station for the planned U9 line are being built. From this year onwards, the cross platform in the track hall could become crowded for passengers during busy times. Over the next few years, the shell of the U9 will be built under the platform and the platform for the second main line will be built underneath. There is only around twelve meters of space left for passengers at the top. Excavations are also being carried out in front of the track hall on Bayerstrasse. The taxi rank there will have to go in just a few days. The entrances to the U4 and U5 subway lines will also be relocated.
At the S-Bahn station there, the excavations are supposed to go down to a depth of 30 meters this year, and then there are still ten meters left to reach the platform level. Remains of the old reception building and adjacent parts of the building will be demolished this year. The so-called MAN roof of the track hall also has to give way; the listed part of the hall remains standing.
The main route is scheduled to be completed between 2035 and 2037
This year, at Marienhof, the workers reached the platform level at a depth of 40 meters. Preparatory work begins for the future connecting tunnel to the subway. Tunneling is scheduled to start in 2026 at the western portal at the Donnersberger Bridge. In 2027, the tunneling machines are scheduled to drill their way along Friedenstraße in the direction of Marienhof, provided that the excavation pit for the S-Bahn stop there has been completed.
The first tunnel in Arnulfpark is already being built this year. A first rescue tunnel is being built there, and the construction site is to be stabilized with compressed air. It ensures that groundwater is kept away.
According to current information from the DB, the second main line should be completed between 2035 and 2037. According to Deutsche Bahn, the costs are seven billion euros as of 2021. The original budget was 3.8 billion euros. It is currently not clear whether it will be even more expensive – estimates are already up to 14 billion euros – and who will have to pay for it. The DB writes about its current cost estimate: “It does not include possible future market price increases since 2021.”