Transport: No quick ICE connection to Munich Airport

The federal government is stepping on the brakes on a possible ICE connection to Munich Airport. This emerges from a letter from the Federal Ministry of Transport to the airport, which is available to the German Press Agency in Munich and which was first reported by the “Münchner Merkur”.

According to the letter, there is “no legal basis” for including the corresponding new line in the requirements plan for the federal railways. The inclusion of the route in the federal traffic route and mobility plan – the “Deutschlandtakt” – would be a prerequisite for the implementation of the project by the railways. There is currently no long-distance train connection to the airport planned there.

“This is a heavy blow for this important future project – it’s about sustainability, climate-friendly travel, traffic relief and, last but not least, the economic future of our country,” said Bavaria’s Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU), who is also Chairman of the Airport’s Supervisory Board, to the “Münchner Merkur “.

Airport CEO Jost Lammers told the dpa that the joint initiative by the airport, Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa to immediately include the construction of a long-distance route between Ingolstadt and Munich with a connection to the airport in the current federal transport route and mobility plan contributes to the desired and urgently needed networking the mode of transport into account. “We very much regret that this proposal has been rejected.” The connection of Munich Airport as a major German and international air traffic hub is urgently needed. “Against this background, the rejection of our joint initiative is completely incomprehensible and threatens to delay the project for years.”

The letter from the Federal Ministry of Transport states, on the other hand, that “a demonstrable, clear and permanent change in the traffic structure compared to the current traffic forecast” cannot be proven. Therefore there is no legal basis for a “short-term evaluation” with the purpose of taking the project into account. In the future update of the federal transport route plan, the inclusion of the project can be checked, it is said.

The parliamentary state secretary Michael Theurer reacted to the criticism from Munich and stressed that the federal government was also interested in a better connection of aviation hubs via rail. This also includes better connections between Munich Airport and national long-distance rail passenger transport. So far, the state of Bavaria has “only registered additional offers and express connections for regional and S-Bahn traffic for the “Deutschlandtakt”, but no direct connection of the airport to long-distance traffic,” argued the FDP politician.

The connection of Germany’s second largest airport to long-distance traffic was already planned in the 1980s, but was never realised. The airport laments the lack of a long-distance train station since the airport opened in 1992 as a competitive disadvantage.