Stuttgart’s residents are furious over plans to convert the city’s existing rail terminus into an underground through-station. In October, 150 000 demonstrators gathered in the city’s central park, which will disappear if building goes ahead. Supporters of the prestige project argue that the conversion of the station, together with the construction of a new high-speed stretch, is essential if Stuttgart is to become a stopping point on the new “magistrale” between Paris and Budapest. Yet critics point to exorbitant costs, misguided rail policy and misuse of public funds.
Tim Engartner
is an economist at the University of Duisburg-Essen.
