Billions of additional costs: Rail: S21 decision does not affect ticket price

According to a court ruling, Deutsche Bahn may remain on the billion -dollar additional costs for the Stuttgart 21 train station project – but for passengers, however, this should not have an immediate effect for passengers. “The DB has shown the costs for the completion of the Stuttgart 21 project from commercial caution for some time as a fund of its own,” said the company. “This means that the decision has no direct impact on ticket prices and the current financial situation of Deutsche Bahn or other projects.”

The day before, the railway had failed in front of the Baden-Württemberg (VGH) administrative court with an application for approval of an appeal. It was about a decision by the Stuttgart Administrative Court in May, according to which the railway is not entitled to ensure that the partners of the project have to participate in the additional costs. The court had rejected corresponding complaints from the railway against the state of Baden-Württemberg, the city of Stuttgart, the Stuttgart region and Stuttgart Airport.

It’s about 6.5 billion euros

An appeal, on the other hand, now rejected the next instance. The group, which is officially the client of Stuttgart 21, currently estimates the total cost of the project at a good 11 billion euros and has also calculated a buffer of 500 million euros. In a financing contract from 2009, however, only the distribution of costs up to an altitude of a good 4.5 billion euros is regulated. The additional costs of at least 6.5 billion euros are likely to get stuck on the train after deciding.

“Deutsche Bahn has taken note of the decision of the Baden-Württemberg Administrative Court and examines the legal effects,” said the railway. Due to the history of the project, the financing negotiations and the contractual regulations for joint project responsibility, the railway stated that there was also a joint financing responsibility, it said.