لخّصلي

Stuttgart 21 – List of Flaws & Gaps
A working paper of Ingenieure22 with a selection of defects, risks and criticisms
(As of 04.07.2018)
Foreword
Stuttgart 21 should really be a "lighthouse project". Therefore it must come as a great disappoint-
ment to the protagonists, if today this project ­ which has still not once been completely planned
and approved and which is structurally still in its early stages ­ is accused of such a complete list of
deficiencies.
Already in 1998, the former CEO of Deutsche Bahn Johannes Ludewig stopped the Stuttgart 21
project and referred to it as "simply too big and too expensive for the Deutsche Bahn". But then
politics intervened, because it was realised that through the construction of an underground rail-
way, there would be a chance to build properties in the centre of Stuttgart, in place of the existing
railway lines. To justify this, supporters of the project established the objectively false assertion
that the terminus station had reached its absolute performance limits. And they went so far as to
make the dubious assertion that Stuttgart 21 could perform twice as well as the existing terminus
station. The state of Baden­Württemberg, the region and the city of Stuttgart lured the railway into
continuing the planning work on Stuttgart 21: A highly overpriced transport contract was conclu-
ded, the airport link was subsidised, and already in 2001 the city of Stuttgart bought the track are-
as from the Deutsche Bahn and waived any interest payments until at least 2019. And so it was
that those at the head of the rail company also tossed their reservations (which were more than ju-
stified from today's perspective) over board, and took over the implementation responsibility for
Stuttgart 21. Instead of an open, unbiased and reliable examination, it was decided far too early
(virtually irrevocably) to build the underground railway, with tunneling systems totaling 60km, in the
most difficult geological environment.
Criticism and warnings were given very early on by authoritative figures. For example, already in
1992 a recognised rail expert branded it "almost criminal" to want to create an unbalanced railway
with a track gradient of 15 per thousand. Although the risks associated with the fire safety of un-
derground railway systems were addressed early on, especially after the cable car disaster of Ka-
prun in 2000, the fire safety regulations, according to today's customary international standards,
were neglected in the planning. The necessary safety precautions threaten to lead Stuttgart 21 to
serious operational constraints and to reduce the efficiency of the railway even further. As well as
this, experts had already pointed out (on the basis of experience and serious calculations), that
only 8 platform lines would never be sufficient, even for today's requirements, to reach an adequa-
te efficiency for a through station, and with that it was devoid of any future viability. Model approval
for the construction of the through station is still also missing today due to static equilibrium and
geological problems.
This diverse criticism can be found again in the following list in the shape of deficiencies. The pro-
ject is urgently deficient in the areas of safety and fire protection, track gradient, efficiency, static
equilibrium and geology and not least due to incomplete planning, constant schedule changes and
permanently rising costs. In almost every case the policy refers back to the lapidary statement
that, "Stuttgart 21 is a cost­effective project of the Deutsche Bahn and it will be built". The Bahn
must once again correct costs and construction periods from the top. For years, both the Bahn and
politics have refused to take part in the technical discussion about the basic conceptual deficien-
cies. Thus it is even more important to voice and make public the deficiencies of the project
through civic involvement, as clearly and as early as possible. With the following list of deficien-
cies, we want to illustrate that this major project does not satisfy the standards of quality German
engineering in any way.