The one between Hamburg and Berlin was killed due to an alleged lack of passengers catering to it.
That's not what is being said publicly. This is what I read:
5 February 2000
On 5 February, German Government, Deutsche Bahn AG, and the industrial partners sign an Agreement to cancel the Berlin-Hamburg Project. The decision to cancel the project came after months of negotiations between the partners and numerous attempts to improve the project’s financial viability did not bring the desired effect. The cancellation was ultimately due to the lack of political will and to difficulties in the financing of the publicly-financed portion of the project. At the time of cancellation, the project was less than 6 months away from start of construction. Revenue service was planned to begin in 2006.
209.85.173.104
The one in Munich still has a large financing gap and as I said, the Munich socialists in power are going to court to have it stopped.
It looks like that might have changed:
Munich Airport Transrapid Link Wins Funding Agreement (Update3)
By Brian Parkin
Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Germany may become the first country in Europe to build a commercial Transrapid rail link, after the southern state of Bavaria forged agreement on a high- speed line connecting downtown Munich with the city airport.
Edmund Stoiber, Bavaria's prime minister who retires next month, persuaded a group of investors to bridge a gap in funding between the state and Deutsche Bahn AG, Germany's state-owned railway, paving the way for the delayed project to proceed, Bavaria's state government said in a press statement today.
``We've finally achieved a breakthrough to build the Transrapid,'' Stoiber told a news briefing in Munich broadcast live on national television. The project is a ``beacon for technology made in Germany.'' Building can begin in summer 2008, he said.
The deal brings to an end squabbling over cost-sharing between the Berlin-based federal government, the states and industry that has dogged the history of the German-developed Transrapid. The system is a collaboration between Siemens AG, ThyssenKrupp AG and Deutsche Bahn.
Transrapid trains run on an elevated concrete track at speeds in excess of 400 kilometers per hour (250 miles per hour) using a magnetic-levitation system patented in 1934 and developed 30 years ago. The technology is in commercial use in only one city worldwide: Shanghai's Transrapid system has linked Pudong International Airport and the Lujiazui financial district since 2002.
Project Costs
Construction of the 37-kilometer (23 mile) rail link in Bavaria may cost about 2.2 billion euros ($3.1 billion), according to Bavaria's state economy minister, Erwin Huber. Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee has pledged 925 million euros, leaving the gap to be funded by the city, Deutsche Bahn and investors.
Bavarian authorities face extra costs for post-Sept. 11 security and more extensive safety measures following a crash at the Transrapid test site in northwestern Germany last year in which 23 people were killed, Germany's worst rail accident this decade. That raised questions about the train's safety. The rail-hugging Transrapid is less susceptible to derailment than ordinary rolling-stock, experts have said.
The project will boost Munich airport, ``one of the most important motors for growth in the region,'' Stoiber said. Huber told reporters the announcement was ``the news of the decade.''
Opposition Friction
Opposition parties to Stoiber's Christian Social Union criticized the accord as expensive and outdated.
Actual building costs may be higher than Huber's estimate because it was made four years ago, pre-dating the accident in Lathen in northwestern Germany last September, according to Thomas Beyer, a Social Democrat lawmaker in the state's Munich- based parliament.
``Frankly, we need faster affordable links between the city and airport, not a new Oktoberfest attraction,'' Beyer, the Social Democrats' deputy chairman in parliament, said in an interview, citing surveys showing a majority of Munich citizens are against using taxpayers' money to pay for the project. The cost of a one-way trip on the Transrapid will be some 15 euros, he said.
``This is Stoiber's retirement gift to Munich -- a terrific tax burden to remember him by,'' Beyer said. SPD-run Munich city will try to block the project in court, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported, citing mayor Christian Ude.
Stoiber rejected that allegation, telling the news conference that the Transrapid project was ``definitely not a going-away present.''
Stoiber, who turns 66 in three days' time, has ruled Bavaria as prime minister since 1993, promoting business- friendly policies credited by analysts as helping the state -- home to companies including Siemens AG and Audi AG -- to contribute about a fifth Germany's gross domestic product in 2006. Stoiber will retire from the chairmanship of his party on Sept. 29 and as state premier on Oct. 10.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Parkin in Berlin at bparkin@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: September 25, 2007 09:28 EDT
bloomberg.com |
