Stuttgart 21
On Wednesday (5/21/23) we got a guided tour of the construction site of Stuttgart 21, the new station and underground high speed rail network in Stuttgart. The new station is fascinating because of its engineering, politics, and controversy.
The station was supposed to be finished in 2021, but it is long overdue and over budget. It was also originally supposed to cost around 5 billion euros, and now in 2023 it will cost over 10 billion euros and hopefully be done in 2025. This enormous cost sparked debates from the public over whether or not a railway station was the best use of tax money, and in the stations earlier days of construction there were large protests. A referendum was held where citizens voted on whether or not the station should continue construction, and it was determined with a 58% majority to continue.
The engineering of the tunnel is quite amazing. Currently, trains coming into Stuttgart must enter and exit in the same direction, leading to many inefficiencies. With Stuttgart 21, the station is being moved completely underground and converted into a through station where all trains enter from one side and exit from the other. By moving the station underground, all the land in downtown Stuttgart from the old station can be reclaimed and turned to parks and buildings.
In order to construct this underground station, excavators first dug out the earth from underground, and sprayed shotcrete (a form of concrete) onto the walls of of the freshly dug tunnel. After that, a large concrete form was brought in, and the finished walls of the tunnel were cast in sections. In each section concrete was pumped into the walls and vibrated in order to reduce bubbles. Membranes were placed between these sections to keep water from leaking between the lines. The result is a massive concrete tunnel below the surface of the earth. All the train tracks were also placed on vibration isolators in order to reduce noise.
In the main station, funnel shaped pillars were cast in pieces using incredibly complex formwork. These funnel shaped pillars provide structural support for the roof while also allowing in daylight.
In my opinion, this engineering is very interesting and cool, but not worth the price tag. By making the project look architecturally amazing, they wasted a lot of money. Because of this excessive spending, the public got mad, and rightfully so. An equally productive station could have been made without such complex formwork. The fact that the station is so over budget also raises suspicions for me. Say for example that the planners knew it would cost over 5 billion euros, but didn’t tell that to the people who were approving the project. Then, once they do years worth of construction and run out of money, the government doesn’t really have a choice but to continue funding the half built station. If I were a tax payer I would be upset but still vote for them to continue the station.
Furthermore, the cost to benefit of the station is debatable. It will allow the high speed trains to be more efficient and lower the commute time to the airport, but these are just small gains for train users. I don’t think that it is worth it to spend 10 billion dollars just to save people 20 minutes on their train ride. For context, 10 billion dollars could purchase around 5,000 windmills, and Germany currently has 28,000 windmills in the country.
But overall, seeing the station and hearing about the construction was really amazing, and definitely my favorite activity that we did in Stuttgart.
