Bahnprojekt Stuttgart–Ulm

Stuttgart 21

Much more than a railway station

Stuttgart 21 involves the complete reorganisation of the Stuttgart rail node. The decision to conduct the joint project was made in 2009 in a financing agreement between the German federal government, the state of Baden-Württemberg, the state capital of Stuttgart, Verband Region Stuttgart (the political entity of the Stuttgart region), Stuttgart Airport and Deutsche Bahn. The following are being built as part of the project:

Stuttgart 21 will help to significantly reduce travel times on long-distance and regional routes and will connect Stuttgart Airport to the long-distance rail network, shifting traffic from road to rail. Examples:

• Ulm–Stuttgart Airport: 28 minutes instead of 58 minutes
• Mannheim–Ulm: 1 hour 8 minutes instead of 1 hour 27 minutes
• Stuttgart Main Station–Stuttgart Airport: 6 minutes instead of 27 minutes
• Heilbronn–Stuttgart Airport: 48 minutes instead of 1 hour 25 minutes

The future through station will enable many new direct regional connections, which will also relieve some of the pressure on the S-Bahn, which sees high passenger numbers every day.

The high performance of the through station was proven in 2011 in a stress test that was recognised by all of the project partners. The through station will have eight inbound and outbound tracks, allowing it to accommodate significantly more train traffic than the current terminal station, which has only five inbound and outbound tracks and experiences many crossing conflicts in the station throat. The agreement to implement the Germany-wide pilot project Digitaler Knoten Stuttgart was reached in 2020, nine years after the 2011 stress test. The digitalisation of the Stuttgart railway node will therefore further increase the already proven higher capacity.

The expansion of the Stuttgart rail node and the Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed line are expected to benefit more than ten million long-distance passengers throughout Germany each year, and demand is expected to increase by around two million passengers. Seventy-five percent of Baden-Württemberg's 11 million residents live in urban and rural areas that will benefit from transport and traffic improvements as a result of the Stuttgart–Ulm rail project. In addition, Stuttgart 21 will make the Germany-wide integrated regular-interval timetable (Deutschlandtakt) possible in southwest Germany.

The major transport benefits of the project were also reflected by a clear majority in the 2011 referendum: 58.9% voted for further financial participation by the federal state (69.1% in Ulm, 52.9% in Stuttgart).

The future Stuttgart Main Station is the project's primary structure. The station's roof, designed by ingenhoven architects, consists of 28 chalice-shaped supports, each with a diameter of 32 metres – a concrete shell design that has never been built before. On 27 of the chalice supports, glass skylights with an area of up to 350 square metres will illuminate the platform hall with daylight. The concrete work for all 28 chalice supports is done, the platform hall roof is finished and the interior work is in progress.

In 1997, a 32-member jury consisting of 14 experts and 18 representatives from the city, federal state and DB unanimously chose this design from 126 submissions, stating that it would "add a major urban-planning landmark to the city layout without any monumentality and without competing with the Bonatz station building in any way".

The 56 kilometres of tunnel tubes for Stuttgart 21 have been bored completely. Now DB Projekt Stuttgart–Ulm GmbH is working on other projects such as the southbound Pfaffensteig tunnel and the northbound Wartberg tunnel, which in combination with Stuttgart 21 will make the region ready for the Germany-wide integrated regular-interval timetable.

The Stuttgart–Ulm railway project provides jobs for several thousand people, including tunnel miners, geologists, ironworkers, designers, engineers, finance professionals and biologists.

Stuttgart 21 will also make space for two new districts in the city centre, with 100 hectares of land available for urban development. In the Rosenstein district, 50 hectares are planned for residential and commercial space, 10 hectares for green spaces and public squares, and 20 hectares will be added to the Schlossgarten park. The Europa district covers 20 hectares.