Stuttgart station dispute goes national in Germany

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

Video report, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A dispute over the redevelopment of a station in Germany has moved from a local planning row to a national issue and a major political headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The project to develop Stuttgart's terminal has attracted thousands of demonstrators each week, but local protests are now shifting to a wider movement against the government, in the heartland of the ruling party.

[eightf48544]

Having been in Stuttgart in September an seen the protests I can partly see their point, it will cause ten years worth of disruption to the station and the adjacent parkland. However when finished it will release a huge area of land North of the exisiting station which comprises the exisiting station approaches. Which can be redeveloped as housing/business parks. Stuttgart is a particulay cramped city hemmed in on three sides by quite high hills. 

It is an interesting operating dilemna for DB^» (Deutsche Bahn - German State Railway - about) in that there is now a conflict between the HBF concept (single large station for each city) and the high speed ICE services. This especialy so when the Hbf is a terminal staion which many are. Stuttgart being a case in point. All ICE's from the Rhine/Frankfurt to Munich/Austria have to reverse in Stuttgart thus adding at least 10 minutes or so to the journey times.

By building a through station linking directly to the NBS (Neu Bau Strasse) High speed lines considerable savings can be made to journey times on trains passing through Stuttgart. However these shortened journey tiems are of no benefit to Stuttgart passengers as their journeys will take much the same time whther they get on in the exisitng station or teh new underground through station.

There was an  article in October's editon of Todays Railways Europe outlining the whole scheme

[willc]

NBS means Neubaustrecke (new build route). I'd be a bit worried about them running ICEs on streets (Strasse)