The construction site at the railroad station in ebenhausen continues to be delayed. The reason: a problem that has existed since the summer has not yet been solved by deutsche bahn. The construction work was therefore already stopped once in june. The train station in ebenhausen is to be made barrier-free. The multi-million dollar project should be finished in less than half a year – actually. Accordingly, the railroad wants to negotiate a new schedule. Nothing should change for the train drivers, it says. For the residents probably not either. Displeasure remains because of the lack of parking spaces for railroad customers.
5.4 million euros invested by deutsche bahn in reconstruction of ebenhausen railroad station. Work had begun in the spring. To be built: an underpass and a 90-meter ramp to the tracks. The following will not be built: parking spaces and a toilet facility. The railroad does not want to build wcs and parking spaces, despite demands from the community. "This is generally criticized", says the mayor of the community of oerlenbach, franz kuhn. Citizens complain when residential areas are used as parking lots and commuters and train riders use them to park their cars. "The railroad does not let itself be interfered with much", says franz kuhn. Putting on pressure or speeding up the construction site in the community – no chance. "The railroad is the builder."
Experts are still missing
Maybe the railroad has to calculate with fully booked craftsmen, says the mayor, and he is not completely wrong. Reason for the orphaned construction site at the railroad station is a specialist that the german railroad officials cannot find. The problem is not unknown. Already in the middle of june, a temporary construction stop had been declared because of a lack of skilled personnel.
New schedule
The background: the signal box in ebenhausen contains a rare piece of technology. Specialists were needed for the conversion. And there was probably not. According to a company spokesman, the relevant experts were "not available" at the railroad station. The problem remains and is now once again causing delays. After repeated inquiries by this newspaper, a company spokesman for the railroad provides the following information: "as is known, work had to be interrupted in the middle of the year in order to rebuild parts of the signal box technology and to technically accept the new configuration. This is a very rarely used interlocking technology, which makes the technical complexity of the reconstruction much higher." How much higher? How long will the construction site last?
The project should be completed on schedule in september. Because of summer delays, the company postponed the deadline until spring 2019. Now the responsible persons want to sit down together and calculate the time schedule, says the railroad spokesman. For mayor franz kuhn, the situation is unsatisfactory, but cannot be influenced. "Sure: it is regrettable if it is not finished. I can’t change it, if I could change it, it would already be finished."
Railroad spokesman anton knapp meanwhile holds out the prospect of a new timetable for the railroad station construction site: "in the second week of the 2019 calendar there will be a meeting with all those involved and on this basis a new construction timetable can be drawn up"." From the current state the community does not get much more than anyone else, it says from the administration. "We have not been informed that there is a delay", says franz kuhn. Reports on the interim status? Missing. "Let’s wait and see," says, says the mayor.
According to a railroad spokesman, nothing will change for customers because of the delay at the station construction site. "The trains are moving as planned,", says company spokesman anton knapp.