How the railway became what it is
Created: 06/29/2022, 18:00
Karl Bürger critically examines the decline of the railway in his new illustrated book, here in the museum he set up at Walpertskirchen station.
© Vroni Vogel
The Walpertskirchen rail connoisseur Karl Bürger has published a new book.
In it he also strikes critical tones.
Walpertskirchen
- "Points of view on the rail track - how the railway became the way it is - in Bavaria and elsewhere" is the title of the Walpertskirchen author Karl Bürger's new work, which is provided with numerous pictures.
He worked on it for two years.
"It's not a railway book, it's a political book," the rail connoisseur clarifies and speaks of the "flammable substance" that it contains: "The network is ailing throughout Germany due to downers."
Bürger, who has been the head of the local "Pro Bahn" working group for many years, maintains the Walpertskirchen train station with his wife Anna-Maria and has even set up a small museum there, is "insanely disappointed" with the transport policy since regionalization 1996. "The network should never have been privatized," he says.
The population was "gradually weaned off the railways".
Central developments were misguided without expertise.
"As clearly as the book addresses why the railways were at the mercy of decades of decline, it also clearly explains what has to happen for a modern railway to be able to assert itself in the transport market and once again become a means of transport for broad sections of society," explains the 65 -year-olds.
A modern and efficient infrastructure is "essential", as well as transport stations and vehicles that meet customer needs, "which in no way contradicts the preservation of historical buildings in the stations".
In his photo book, Bürger deals with the role of the railway in political and social conditions.
The book explains why local rail transport and railway lines in the area were considered unprofitable.
It is also shown "that the railway managers, in close cooperation with politicians, could not think of anything more than shutting down".
Route after route, train station after train station fell victim to a "shrinkage mania" - "without even beginning to improve the economic situation of the railways", criticizes the author.
His photo book was self-published, costs EUR 39.90 and can be ordered by email to karl-buerger@t-online.de or by telephone on (0 81 22) 35 97.
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Vroni Vogel