Stuttgart 21 won't begin until 2026.
The estimated budget and timeline for the Stuttgart 21 project have gone astray. Instead of the original three billion euros, it's predicted that about twelve billion euros will be needed now. And the planned opening date of 2019 was way off; it's now likely the project won't see operation until December 2026 at the earliest. Unfortunately, it seems more setbacks are ahead for the train system, according to a news report.
The notorious rail project in Germany, Stuttgart 21, may not launch until 2027. With the delayed tentative opening, it adds another year to the project's long history of delays. The railway intersection was planned to start operation in 2025 after various postponements, but that's definitely not happening. Reports state that a formal announcement about the project's progress will be given by the steering committee on Tuesday. The steering committee of this massive project consists of representatives from the city, state, region, and railway.
In March, the state-owned company hinted that a December 2025 opening was still "in the works" but cautioned that the specifics of what would be operational at what time needed further clarification. At the time, the company had considered two options: a temporary control center and a phased trial run of the undersized tunnel station. In this scenario, the old main station would have continued to be used by trains.
Temporary solution too costly
Plans for this temporary commissioning have been dropped - due to planning and delivery issues and, according to the report, also because setting up a temporary control center would have cost a hefty three-digit million price. Adding extra expense to an already uncontrollably costly project doesn't seem like a smart move.
Presently, the railway predicts costs to be around eleven billion euros. However, these could hike up to at least twelve billion euros or even more, as per estimates from people involved in the project. At the start of the project, the company had expected to spend around three billion euros on construction and to open in December 2019. German Rail didn't respond to "Spiegel" about the possible delay and referred to a press conference on Tuesday.
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Despite the initial plans for a temporary control center, the high setup costs led to its abandonment. This decision is associated with German Railways, who are currently estimating costs for Stuttgart 21 to reach at least twelve billion euros.
The steering committee overseeing Stuttgart 21's progress consists of representatives from the city, state, region, and German Railways, who initially expected a budget of three billion euros for construction and an opening in December 2019.
