"We need alternatives"

Created: 01/07/2022, 08:05 AM

The mayors of the A8 communities would like a S-Bahn connection.

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The communities on the A8 want to oppose the decision not to continue the project of a new S-Bahn route along the A8.

Dachau - After presenting the results of the report on the railway expansion in the Munich region, the mayors of the A8 communities, the district administrator of Aichach-Friedberg and the constituency members from the Dachau and Aichach-Friedberg sent a joint letter to Minister of State Kerstin Schreyer.

The background to this is the expert recommendation presented last December not to continue the project of a new S-Bahn route along the A8. As part of the presentation, Minister of State Schreyer offered talks on transport alternatives. The local actors are now happy to accept this offer of talks. "The communities along the A8 have grown above average in recent years and are suffering from the lack of a S-Bahn connection," says Mayor Kneidl, explaining the initiative. And he emphasizes: "In view of the forecast development and the upcoming traffic challenges as well as the necessity of the mobility transition, compensation for the S-Bahn branch, which was historically not realized at the time, is absolutely necessary!"

To promote the mobility transition, the old federal government had already budgeted 180 billion euros for investments over the next ten years. As part of the “Bahnausbau München” project, various rail projects in the Munich region have been examined and assessed on behalf of the Bavarian Ministry of Transport over the past few months. The results and recommendations were presented in three regional conferences in mid-December 2021. Projects that were also examined, such as the four-track expansion of the S2 to Petershausen and the so-called Breitenau mobility hub, were generally rated positively.

However, some important issues for the transport turnaround and for achieving the climate goals will not be pursued any further.

The project of a new S-Bahn route along the A8 from Munich to Augsburg was not recommended for further pursuit, especially due to the very high investment costs and the resulting non-verifiable economic profitability.

Bus projects with potential

The communities and districts bordering the A8 do not want to simply put this aside. In a letter to Minister of State Schreyer, the two district administrators Löwl and Dr. Klaus Metzger from Aichach-Friedberg, the state parliament members Benjamin Miskowitsch, Bernhard Seidenath and Peter Tomaschko as well as the mayors of Adelzhausen, Bergkirchen, Dasing, Odelzhausen, Pfaffenhofen ad Glonn and Sulzemoos for a further discussion. "The aim is to find traffic alternatives in the corridor along the A8 between Augsburg and Munich, because the volume of traffic is enormous and will continue to increase," said a press release by the politicians. There must be alternatives to the car, especially with a view to the mobility transition and climate change.

The pilot project of the express bus “Dasing-Pasing” already implemented by the two districts with the support of the Ministry of Transport shows that there is definitely potential.

The optimization of the “motorway bus” and other alternatives should therefore now be discussed “promptly” with Schreyer.

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