Lufthansa taps his fist again on the table in the back of the serving Munich airport. The German platform, the country's second largest with 12.5 million passengers in 2021 (47.9 million in 2019), owns a mediocre rail network. A few bus lines and two S-Bahn (suburban railway) lines link the airport to Munich, but the journey times are extremely long. It takes at least 40 minutes to cover the 38 km between the city and the airport. What's more, there are no major lines to and from the hub.
Lufthansa considers this absence to be a long-term threat to the hub. " If nothing is done here, Munich will soon be in ecological and economic turmoil." Stefan Kreuzpaintner, Head of Sales at Lufthansa, recently told the media.
Non-stop S-Bahn trains in 2025?
The German carrier wants to have an express train serving the Bavarian capital without intermediate stops by 2025.. For the rest of Bavaria and part of Austria, inter-regional links should be created, which will increase passenger mobility. Between now and 2030Munich airport station should also benefit from long-distance services.
The company has worked with Deutsche Bahn and the Federal and Bavarian Transport Ministries on a development plan. It includes several avenues of work. Existing S-Bahn trains should run more frequently between the city centre and the airport, with direct connections.. This measure would reduce journey times to 30 minutes. And this as early as 2025.
The authorities are studying the creation of an inter-regional express train to the airport (ÜFX). It would link Nuremberg, Salzburg and Augsburg as a first step. In the longer term, other towns such as Innsbruck and holiday regions such as Upper Bavaria will be connected.
ICE in sight for the airport
Finally, the most important measure would involve a ICE station on the airport. It would enable high-speed trains to connect all of Germany and Austria. And to make the Munich hub even more attractive.
An initial sketch of the line was presented by Deutsche Bahn to the federal government in June. It provides for the construction of a line grafted onto the existing Munich-Ingolstadt ICE route. The total cost of the project is 5 billion euros7 billion according to experts.
While waiting for the day when this ICE station will be inaugurated, Lufthansa continues to take initiatives. The airline has just launched a new express bus link from Kempten to Munich.
Furthermore, according to Strasbourg Convention BureauA direct rail link will soon be created between the capital of Alsace and Frankfurt airport. It could see the light of day in 2023. At the moment, Strasbourg is connected by Lufthansa express bus for passengers of the airline and Star Alliance members.
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