The Board of Trustees of the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences was surprised to learn from Deutsche Bahn that the opening of the Post Tunnel, which is intended to connect the Technology Mile in Mundenheim with the city center, cannot be expected until 2023 at the earliest. In view of the fact that the university and the vocational schools have been urgently addressing the responsible parties on this issue for almost ten years now, the current indication by the federal company that a comprehensive planning approval procedure must first be entered into is incomprehensible.
During an inspection of the tunnel in May 2011, University President Prof. Dr. Peter Mudra and the then Lord Mayor, Dr. Eva Lohse, were able to gain an impression of the surprisingly good condition of the tunnel. Two years ago, Klaus Dillinger, the head of the construction department, was also confident that the tunnel would be opened in 2019. The fact that this passage, which is important for the university's connection to the city center, will not be used until 2023 at the earliest counteracts the university's strategic efforts to open up the university to the city center, as has been publicly discussed in recent months and for which the Minister of Science is also advocating. "In view of the difficult traffic situation in the coming years, which is likely to become even worse in the area surrounding the university after the completion of the central campus in Mundenheim in 2022 for the approximately 4,500 people and 350 employees who will then be studying there, the delay is unacceptable," emphasized the chairwoman of the university's board of trustees, Beatrix Schnitzius.
As chairman of the university council, Dr. Dieter Wagner was also disconcerted by the time delay and the information policy. "It cannot be that a state-owned company such as Deutsche Bahn is so hesitant in fulfilling its responsibility to shape a municipal infrastructure and fails to recognize the opportunities for revitalizing its own station," Wagner emphasized.
The Board of Trustees therefore decided to send a letter to the Executive Board of Deutsche Bahn AG and to the Federal Minister of Transport urging them to implement the infrastructure project, which is important for Ludwigshafen and the university, without delay.
Contact:
Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences
Prof. Dr. Peter Mudra
President
Tel. 0621/5203-124
E-mail: praesident@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
