Germany’s troubled Stuttgart 21 rail project delayed until 2026 as costs rise again

Digital render of Stuttgart’s new main station, part of the delayed Stuttgart 21 project (Image: Deutsche Bahn)

The project forms part of the upgraded Stuttgart-Augsburg railway. At its core is a new main station at Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, along with 57km of new railways, 30km of tunnels and 25 km of high-speed lines.

But it will now not go into operation until 2026 at the earliest, instead of 2025, as Germany rail company Deutsche Bahn had previously indicated.

Citing the complexity of the project, Deutsche Bahn said the new infrastructure and station needed to undergo rigorous testing to ensure that the railway was reliable from its launch.

Deutsche Bahn said that by the end of 2026, the new main station would replace the old terminal station, while the S-Bahn main line would be equipped with new digital technology by September 2026.

From September 2026, the Untertürkheim station will be rebuilt, while the Gäubahn via the Pfaffensteig tunnel still has to be built.

Confirming the delay, DB infrastructure board member Berthold Huber said, “Stuttgart 21 is the most complex commissioning of a new railway hub in Europe in recent decades. With the modern, digitalised hub in the southwest of the country, we will be able to offer significantly more and many faster connections. Stuttgart 21 must work right from the start - with stable timetables that passengers can rely on.”

Construction costs on the project have ballooned from an initial estimate of €3 billion ahead of completion in 2019, to a current estimate of €11 billion. German publication Der Spiegel last week reported that costs could now be in line to rise to €12 billion or more.

The project has now been years in the execution. Construction started in 2010 and tunnelling work completed in 2022, while the foundation stone for the new station was laid in 2016.