Germany’s Stuttgart 21 high-speed rail project faces yet another significant delay after it was found that around 1,000 kilometers of cabling were laid incorrectly and now must be replaced, incurring further costs to the already way behind schedule project.
According to German outlets, the new setback has pushed project until the end of 2031 — at the earliest.
Stuttgart 21 is an high-speed rail and urban redevelopment project for the eponymous German city of Stuttgart. The ambitious and highly controversial project aims to completely overhaul the city’s rail network with new, modern railway stations, high-speed lines, and underground routes that replace existing surface lines.
The project, officially backed by rail operator Deutsche Bahn, has been marred with numerous setbacks and complications and is severely behind schedule. Construction works began in 2010, with initial estimations aiming to finish in 2019 — however, it was pushed for a tentative December 2026 partial opening as of late 2025. Initial costs for the project were reportedly estimated at 4.5 billion euros. The delays and other setbacks experienced over the course of its development have more than doubled the bill, at around 11.3 billion euros according to recent estimates disclosed by Deutsche Bahn.
Die Welt, and other German outlets reported that the project faces yet another delay that has pushed it to 2031. The new delay comes right as a report from local broadcaster SWR revealed that more than 1,000 kilometers of cable and cable ducts for the project were installed incorrectly. Unnamed sources reportedly disclosed to the broadcaster that the vast majority of the incorrectly-placed cabling was deemed unusable and has to be replaced.
Evelyn Palla (l), CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, and Winfried Kretschmann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, take part in a press conference after a meeting of the steering committee for the much-delayed Stuttgart 21 rail project. (Marijan Murat/picture alliance via Getty)
The German business newspaper Handelsblatt detailed on Thursday that the new setback may incur in additional expenses of up to three billion euros to the project’s already bloated bill. The outlet also noted that, according to a court ruling, Deutsche Bahn is solely responsible for covering additional costs.
“Deutsche Bahn will inform the public about the project’s new commissioning plan following the Stuttgart 21 steering committee meeting at the end of June,” a spokesperson of the railway operator said, per Handelsblatt.
Germany’s Tagesschau news show explained this week that Stuttgart 21’s plans call for its rail hub to be “entirely” digitized. As such, its trains and tracks will be equipped with European Train Control System (ETCS) and controlled by a digital signal box. However, the project realized four years ago that freight trains would continue to operate without ETCS on the outskirts of the hub for years to come. In addition to digital technology, conventional signals are needed there. This required the laying of kilometers’ worth of additional cables and cable ducts — the same cables that are now deemed to be unusable.
On Thursday, The Telegraph noted that the troubled Stuttgart 21 project has been compared to the United Kingdom’s HS2, another ambitious railway project that has faced a litany of complications and setbacks hindering its completion.
British Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander disclosed in May that HS2 could end up costing as much as 103 billion pounds ($138 billion) and is not expected to be operational until anywhere between 2036 and 2039 — a decade later than what its plans originally called for.
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