Stadtbahn in the district of Ludwigsburg: New leadership, old problems!

Stadtbahn in the district of Ludwigsburg: New leadership, old problems!

In the district of Ludwigsburg, the plans for the light rail are facing a massive delay. The newly appointed boss, Michael Ilk, rejected the original schedule, which means that the first trains will probably only run in the early 2030s. According to reports from Stuttgarter Nachrichten is planned that the entire route will be completed by the middle of the next decade after the old railway line between Markgröningen and Ludwigsburg is reactivated.

Michael Ilk, who previously worked as a mayor of mobility, takes over the management in turbulent times. He himself was surprised by the continuing criticism of the project, which has existed without leadership for three months. ILK emphasizes that the light rail is not a "prestige project", but wants to improve the mobility of the citizens, such as Stuttgarter Newspaper reported. In addition, it is unclear whether the delays will have legal consequences for the responsible bodies, since the experience in the past has shown that such construction projects often take longer than originally planned.

The current Situation raises many questions, among other things with regard to the financial and organizational challenges that the Stadtbahn planners have to master in order to successfully advance the project. The then managing director Frank von Meißner had planned to put the first trains on the rails as early as 2028, but these optimistic forecasts seem to have moved far away.