Stuttgart 21: Half of the Airport Tunnel Excavated
Deutsche Bahn completed half of the excavation for the airport tunnel in mid-July 2021. The tunnel will connect Stuttgart Airport to the long-distance and regional rail network as part of Stuttgart 21. The airport tunnel consists of two bores each around 2.2 km long. A total of 4395 m of tunnel are to be driven.
Credit/Quelle: Arnim Kilgus
With the connection of the airport and the exhibition centre to the rail network, a transport hub is being created on the Filder region that will benefit 250 000 inhabitants in the immediate catchment area alone. Thanks to the new infrastructure, the airport can be reached by train from Stuttgart's main railway station in eight minutes instead of 27 minutes today. In future, travellers from Ulm will be able to travel directly to the airport in about half an hour; today, they need about 1 hour and 45 minutes to do so with a change in the Stuttgart basin.
Tunnel Excavation Underway Since June 2020
In July 2016, the Federal Railway Authority had already issued the planning approval decision – and thus the building permit – for the Stuttgart 21 section 1.3a “Airport connection – new line with NBS station”. Opponents of the project filed a complaint against this before the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg and were finally defeated after a legal dispute lasting four years before the Federal Administrative Court. Directly after the last-instance ruling on 18 June 2020, Deutsche Bahn began tunnelling.
Credit/Quelle: Jannik Walter
