As of: March 27, 2024, 5:57 p.m
By: Lisa Metzger
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The new signal box at Munich Ostbahnhof is scheduled to go into operation a year later than planned.
There is sharp criticism of Deutsche Bahn from politicians.
S-Bahn drivers in Munich have to be patient.
Munich – The commissioning of the new electronic signal box at the Ostbahnhof in Munich will be delayed by another year.
This news prompted Bavaria's Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) to sharply criticize Deutsche Bahn (DB).
“I'm not only annoyed by the delay, but also by the DB's salami tactics,” he said on Wednesday in Munich after the updated schedule was announced.
“Every year is postponed for another year.”
The DB is not delivering again: The promised new signal box for the Ostbahnhof in Munich will not come until 2025, instead of August 2024 as planned. © Imago/Michael Westermann/dpa/Peter Kneffel
Signal box should ensure more reliability on the S-Bahn
The electronic signal box, which costs 220 million euros, is intended to replace the previous relay signal box from 1971 and thus make the repeatedly disrupted S-Bahn traffic in the region and the state capital significantly more reliable.
However, it will now only begin operations in the summer of 2025, instead of August 2024 as originally planned, according to the railway.
The original start date was the middle of last year.
The unreliability of the Munich S-Bahn system simply cannot continue like this.
Dieter Reiter (SPD), Mayor of Munich
Munich's mayor is stunned
Munich's mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) was also appalled by the renewed delay.
“I can’t believe it,” he commented on the situation.
Once again the commuters would be put off.
“And they always just say, sorry, it’s delayed.” His verdict: “The unreliability of the Munich S-Bahn system simply can’t go on like this!
From now on, the railway must finally be run more closely by the responsible government and the ministry!”
Deutsche Bahn justifies the delay with an “implementation problem”
The railway justified the renewed delay with “the reason for this is a structural implementation problem for the highly complex signal box system”.
It's about the interfaces to neighboring signal boxes.
Complex adjustments were necessary in the software planning and structural implementation.
“The problem only became apparent in a late project phase,” explained the railway.
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Although the problem has now been solved, it requires extensive replanning and further testing.
In addition, there will be a preventive break from construction work during the European Football Championship this summer.
I expect that the DB will finally do everything in its power to commission the system as quickly as possible.
Christian Bernreiter (CSU), Minister of Transport of Bavaria
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Another DB problem child in Munich: the second main route
Bernreiter emphasized: “I expect that the DB will finally do everything in its power to put it into operation as quickly as possible and by then take appropriate measures to stabilize the vulnerable operation of the existing signal box.”
The railway has already agreed to carry out additional maintenance work to stabilize the older signal boxes, including the existing signal box at Ostbahnhof, in order to mitigate the impact of the delay.
The DB also assured that the delay would have no impact on the start of the second S-Bahn main line, which is also under construction.
This major project has already made negative headlines several times due to cost overruns and delays.
In 2022 it became known that the central second route through Munich city center will not cost 3.85 billion euros as originally calculated, but at least 7.0 billion euros - plus all price increases after 2021. And the commissioning will take place - according to that time Information - probably delayed from 2028 to 2037.
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Editor Lisa Metzger wrote this article using AI and then carefully reviewed it.
Find out more about our AI principles here.