The Greens in the district have invited to a panel followed by a discussion on the subject of “Expansion of the Werdenfels Railway”.
In order to underline the importance, the current constituency candidate, a green member of the state parliament and - as an example of the traffic turnaround - the Tyrolean state parliament member Michael Mingler came along.
District
- On the afternoon of the day of the event, part of the group had already visited the Wilzhofen train station, which is only used for operational purposes, and discussed options for reactivating passenger traffic.
The organizer, Franziska Perl from the Weilheim Green Local Group, then introduced the topic in the evening in the Gögerl restaurant in Weilheim.
"Put on the rails - expansion of the Werdenfelsbahn": As a commuter to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Perl knows about the inconvenience of the offer.
It took at least half an hour, she demanded.
The fact that Perl also wanted two tracks directly to Mittenwald seemed a bit over-ambitious in view of the protected natural spaces in the Krün area.
Two-track expansion and reactivation of stations and the Fuchstalbahn
Markus Büchler set his sights on the topic eloquently and with a sophisticated presentation.
The green spokesman for the state parliament for the topic of "mobility" took up some local aspects: expansion of two tracks initially in the Murnau-Huglfing section, reactivation of the stations and the Fuchstalbahn were topics.
Well-timed buses to the villages every day from 5 a.m. to midnight
But Büchler quickly took the subject further and also addressed the need for well-timed buses to the villages, “from 5 a.m. to midnight, every day”.
Büchler called for the investments in road construction to be largely redirected to rail expansion and this was underpinned by the indisputable statistics, according to which Austria invests three times as much per inhabitant in rail.
This opened the stage for Michael Mingler: The Tyrolean MP reported from his own experience of the changes brought about by the black-green state government that has existed since 2013, flanked by the green government participation in Vienna since 2020.
Tickets around Innsbruck are much cheaper
In addition to more S-Bahn stations around Innsbruck, Mingler particularly praised the heavily discounted transport association tickets in order to create attractiveness: Instead of over 1000 euros, you can now travel in Tyrol for 500 euros for a whole year, students even from 180 Euro.
Passenger numbers have risen by 60 percent
Since then, the number of passengers has risen by 60 percent, "the public sector doesn't need to pay that much," Mingler added.
In addition, the ÖVP's decades-long planning for a Fernpass road tunnel has now been replaced by a preliminary study for a possible rail tunnel from the Inn Valley to Reutte.
"Of course, this also requires expanded access routes in Bavaria."
Topic bypass Weilheim is boiling
That got the discussion going - but not in the direction of Werdenfelsbahn.
What sparked off among the guests was the buzz word “road tunnel”.
For almost half an hour, the Weilheim bypass boiled up in the discussion of those present, until City Councilor Manuel Neulinger caught the surge with reference to currently ongoing voting processes.
“You can't solve the traffic problem with new roads,” agreed Michael Mingler of the car-critical stance.
And Markus Büchler estimates that better trains and buses as well as a cheaper network ticket will eliminate a quarter of road traffic in and around Weilheim.
In particular, the Bavarian black and orange state government is blocking expansion projects in regional local transport, even if the black and red federal government gives a 90 percent grant guarantee.
"Federal Transport Minister Scheuer promises to support expansions at the Werdenfelsstakt, but only if the Free State adopts this requirement - and that is simply not done in Munich."
Transport expert calls for a reallocation of the transport budget in favor of rail
This brought the financial expert Elisabeth Löwenbourg-Brzezinski into play, who is applying for a direct mandate in the Bundestag for the constituency in September.
She also called for a reallocation of the transport budget in favor of the railways, but in particular a consolidation of the railway subsidiaries into an "infrastructure company", which in the new legal form could also get cheap EU promotional loans.
Instead of the group's intention to make a profit, an orientation towards the common good must come instead.
For the demand for a “green transport policy” there was unanimous applause from those present, which included Green District Councilor Karl-Heinz Grehl and the Weilheim Green City Councilors.
ANDREAS BRETTING
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