STUTTGART (dpa-AFX) – From the point of view of the Federal Ministry of Transport, possible additional costs for the Stuttgart 21 railway project should be paid by Deutsche Bahn. “Stuttgart 21 is an autonomous project of DB AG and not part of the requirements plan for the federal railways. The responsibility clearly lies with Deutsche Bahn,” said State Secretary Michael Theurer to the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” (Saturday) when asked about the assumption of costs.
Regarding the plan for the Gäubahn tunnel between Stuttgart Airport and Böblingen, Theurer said that planning approval was needed as soon as possible. He is already in talks with the railway about this. “But the state, city of Stuttgart and region are also responsible for creating a solution here,” said the FDP politician according to the advance notice.
In the spring, Deutsche Bahn would like to clarify the additional costs of Stuttgart 21 with a test report. According to media reports, the costs could increase again and then amount to more than nine billion euros. Over the years there had been several cost increases for the construction of the underground through station and the connection to Ulm. According to previous plans, the conversion of the main station in Stuttgart including the connection in the Fildern area (S21) will cost 8.2 billion euros./ses/DP/men