Voters approve divisive German railway station rebuild

Nov 27, 2011, 20:20 GMT

Stuttgart, Germany - A multi-billion-euro plan to redevelop a southern German railway station was given the go-ahead Sunday, in a referendum following months of protest that turned violent at times.

Passions ran high last year over the costly scheme to rebuild a Stuttgart city railway station, turning the terminus into a through-station to provide better access for high-speed trains but destroying old buildings and natural habitats in the process.

A clear majority of 58.8 per cent of voters were in favour of the redevelopment, in Sunday's referendum that took place not just in the city of Stuttgart but the entire southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

'We will accept this vote. The entire state government will do so,' said state premier Winfried Kretschmann, whose environmentalist Green Party is opposed to the station project.

German media was at times dominated last year by images of fierce clashes between protesters and police, as construction teams ripped down one wing of the city's station and cut down old trees in a nearby park to begin the project.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has repeatedly spoken out in support of the Stuttgart redevelopment, saying it is emblematic of a series of infrastructure projects that are in the national interest but face resistance from conservation-minded locals.

The 4.1-billion-euro (5.5-billion-dollar) project, largely funded by the federal and state governments, will dig deep tunnels to accommodate the new station and many kilometres of approach lines. The main tract of the old station is to remain as a city landmark.