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Berlin SPD-appointed state president Franziska Giffey has accused the Greens coalition partner of being unrealistic on transport policy. A “car-free city center is unrealistic,” the former mayor of Neukölln told a news conference in Rudow on Friday, presenting the SPD’s plans for the expansion of the Berlin subway.
An urban toll, that is, a fee for the city center, is also inconceivable for the SPD. Giffey criticized the toll as a “virtual wall” and added: “Berlin had enough walls.” The SPD rejects in principle that only Berliners “who can afford it” can enter the city center.
Many people depend on the car because they have to drive their wheelchairs, their children, their relatives who need care. Delivery traffic is also needed.
The Greens are in favor of a toll that exists in many European metropolises. The recently presented traffic administration bill for mobility law allows for such financial “control” of traffic. Immediately after the submission of the draft, the Berlin SPD violently attacked the coalition partner for this reason.
No toll, no car-free city center – Invest heavily in the metro network that is the SPD plan. The party will extend five routes: U3 to Mexikoplatz (40 million), U7 to Heerstraße Nord (450 million), U7 to BER (800 million), U2 to Pankow Church (150 million) and U8 to Märkisches Viertel for 220 million.
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Giffey and Saleh assume that 75 percent of the costs will be funded by the federal government; the federal government could even cover 90 percent of the route to BER. It is noteworthy that the branch of the U6 at the site of the current Tegel airport is no longer there. As stated in the SPD, this branch is very complex and cannot be created by 2030.
The SPD wants to implement the expansion of the metro by 2030
The five extensions that the SPD demanded on Friday are “realistic” and should be implemented by 2030. Therefore, Giffey and Saleh spoke on the basis of the “i2030” project to expand regional rail connections from “U2030”.
At the end of 2018, at the request of the Berlin SPD, transport senator Regine Günther had to commission three feasibility studies (U6 to Tegel aerodrome, U7 to BER and U8 to Märkisches Viertel), and later a fourth study was added. for the U7 to Heerstraße Nord.
Although some studies are ready, none are officially published. Now some figures are known. Günther recently announced that he would introduce everyone together.
Above all, the Berlin Greens are critical of metro expansion due to high costs and are dependent on the tram. There are also voices within the Berlin SPD that are betting on the tram. Senator Günther’s spokesman, Jan Thomsen, stressed that in the 17 years between 1999 and 2016 not a single feasibility study had been started “to go ahead with the construction of the subway in Berlin.” The extension of the U5 to the main station began under the governor of the CDU, Diepgen. According to information from BVG, the U5 will open in December this year. The transport senator had “under her own responsibility” – and not under pressure from the SPD – commissioned four feasibility studies in order to “finally create a valid basis for making decisions for possible underground expansions.” “The planning and construction of the subway are part of a metropolis – and since this legislature they are also part of Berlin.”
