With very different assessments, the state parliament has completed the processing of the debacle surrounding the second Munich S-Bahn trunk line. In the final debate in the plenary session on Wednesday, the CSU and Free Voters defended the state government against the central allegations of the opposition – and pushed the main responsibility on to Deutsche Bahn. The opposition, on the other hand, accused the state government of amateurish approach to the project.
In 2022 it became known that the second central S-Bahn route through downtown Munich would not cost 3.85 billion euros as originally calculated, but at least 7.0 billion euros – plus the price increases after 2021. And: the commissioning will probably be delayed from 2028 to 2037.
Committee chairman Bernhard Pohl (free voters) argued in the debate: “Deutsche Bahn is primarily responsible.” As the person responsible for the project, but also as a monopoly with no alternative, she “failed completely in this project”. According to the majority report of the coalition factions, however, the state government was completely exonerated. But that shouldn’t mean “that some things shouldn’t have been done better,” said Pohl.
Jürgen Baumgärtner (CSU) accused the opposition of campaign maneuvers. Green MP Martin Runge countered: “The representation that everyone else is to blame can only be described as absurd.” Markus Büchler (Greens) said that the state government should have done more control and had to talk Tacheles in the state parliament.
A central accusation against the State Chancellery was that it is said to have known early on about the impending cost explosion and to have kept it secret, also in order not to jeopardize Söder’s possible chancellor ambitions. According to notes from the State Chancellery, the matter should be dealt with “dilatory” – i.e. postponed. That was “not dilatory, but amateurish,” said Inge Aures (SPD). Sebastian Körber (FDP) accused Söder in his absence of always primarily pursuing his own career planning. Ingo Hahn (AfD) said: “What remains is a strong taste.”