Munich (dpa / lby) - In the debate about a possible cost explosion for the planned second main route for S-Bahn and U-Bahn in Munich, the Bavarian state government has asked the railway company to submit reliable figures. "The Free State does not plan and the Free State does not build. Like the federal government, we are only donors," said Head of State Florian Herrmann (CSU) on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting. "In the end, it's always about the same thing - Deutsche Bahn's cost accounting." The opposition accuses the state government of already knowing about the cost increases at the end of 2020, but not having made them public.
To date, the railways have not provided any basis for figures, Herrmann complained. "The Free State only pays against numbers," he said. Bavaria's Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) will go to Berlin on Wednesday to discuss the situation with Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP).
Wissing had recently acknowledged the federal government's payment obligation. "We pay 60 percent of the eligible costs," he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. There is "no financial problem, the means are there".
According to new estimates, the costs for the construction of the second S-Bahn tube in Munich will increase from 3.85 to up to 7.2 billion euros. In addition, the commissioning of the central route through Munich city center could be delayed from 2028 to 2037. As a result, a dispute broke out between the federal government and the Free State of Bavaria and the city of Munich about the future of the project.
In principle, Head of State Herrmann showed understanding that certain cost increases could occur. At the request of the city of Munich, a transverse tube was also included in the plans for the U9 subway line. It must be clear that such a structural change can lead to significant cost increases and also to an extension of the construction period.
