Short info: Stuttgart 21 – politics

The new line, which runs from Ulm along the autobahn in the direction of Stuttgart, is part of the “Stuttgart – Ulm railway project” – and the much less problematic one at that. But the other part Stuttgart 21, was hotly contested and is much more than a new station building. The underground through station, which is currently being built in the Stuttgart basin, is a highly controversial investment and, for opponents of the project, a symbol of transport policy gigantomania. Stuttgart 21 – that means: The railways are completely relocating the rail routes in and around the Swabian metropolis and are boring almost 60 kilometers of tunnels for this. The dead-end street in the city center becomes a rail ring system.

According to current estimates, the new line between Ulm and Wendlingen will cost almost four billion euros. As far as Stuttgart 21 is concerned, the forecast last revised upwards in March is 9.8 billion euros.

After sensational mass protests in 2011, almost 59 percent voted for Stuttgart 21 in a referendum. Some say today, however, that things would have turned out differently if they had known that the new line that has now been completed could also have been operated without the underground station. It is scheduled to go into operation in December 2025. According to Bahn, the travel time between Stuttgart and Ulm will then be reduced by around another quarter of an hour. Until then, the trains from Ulm still have to leave the new express rail route in Wendlingen and continue on the old railway line.