A final „good luck“ to the Stuttgart 21 project:
Deutsche Bahn has successfully driven all of the tunnels in the project. In total, the miners have dug around 56 kilometers of tunnel. Today's final tunnel breakthrough in the new airport tunnel marks a historic milestone in the Stuttgart 21 project. The completion of the tunnel drive was celebrated today by high-ranking representatives of Deutsche Bahn, federal, state and local politicians, the European Commission, Stuttgart Airport and the construction industry together with other guests of honor.

Berthold Huber, Chief Infrastructure Officer of Deutsche Bahn: „56 kilometers of tunnel, built in the middle of the city, under the trade fair, in the middle of an airport, under the Neckar, under the television tower - the challenges were numerous. Now the tunnel excavation is complete. The miners can be proud of themselves! Their work underground is essential for the mobility turnaround that will benefit millions of people and freight traffic.“

Dr. Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport: „Anyone watching the construction progress here on site will inevitably gain an impression of the S21 project as a whole: highly complex transport planning and engineering skills are creating a high-performance infrastructure with smart technology that will benefit local passengers with more and better connections and bring us a decisive step closer to the next stage of the Deutschlandtakt.“

Winfried Hermann, Minister for Transport of the State of Baden-Württemberg: „A transport hub is being created at Stuttgart Airport and the trade fair center. All modes of transport, from airplanes to cars, long-distance buses, suburban trains and subway trains, to long-distance and regional transport, will be linked together here. This is how a traffic turnaround can succeed! I am therefore delighted that the tunnel drive for S21 has been completed, marking an important milestone for the connection to Stuttgart Airport. Our thanks go to the miners, engineers and planners, because despite technical progress, tunnel construction is still strenuous and not without danger.“

Herald Ruijters, Director of Investment, Innovative and Sustainable Transport at the European Commission: „Every step brings us closer to our goal: a modern, multimodal transportation hub in Stuttgart that not only connects the city, the region and the country, but also Europe - from the Atlantic in the west to the Black Sea in the east. The new geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe shows how necessary such projects and investments are in order to better connect Europe. Citizens and companies will benefit from a climate-neutral and sustainable rail network.“

Dr. Frank Nopper, Lord Mayor of the state capital Stuttgart: „The construction of the eight tunnels for the Stuttgart 21 project was a huge challenge for miners and engineers, but also for the population and local residents, due to Stuttgart's basin location and the mineral water. Now that there is light at the end of the eighth tunnel, we are entering the home straight of the Stuttgart 21 project with great confidence.“

Dr. Arina Freitag, Tunnel Godmother and Chief Financial Officer TenneT Holding BV:
„As a tunnel sponsor, it fills me with great joy to see that this project is progressing successfully. The final tunnel breakthrough is an important milestone - not only for Stuttgart, but for the whole of Germany. We are sending out an important signal today: the expansion of the infrastructure in Germany is progressing. As the former Managing Director of Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH and the current CFO of an infrastructure operator such as TenneT, I am aware of the particular importance of such projects, because only with a modern and efficient infrastructure can we ensure the long-term and sustainable future viability of Germany as a business location.“

The tunnels of Stuttgart 21
Eight tunnels were dug as part of the Stuttgart 21 project, most of which consist of two tubes:

• Tunnel Bad Cannstatt
• Tunnel Feuerbach
• Airport tunnel
• Filder Tunnel
• Tunnel Obertürkheim
• S-Bahn tunnel between Mittnachtstraße stop and Hauptbahnhof S-Bahn station
• Rosenstein suburban rail tunnel
• Tunnel Untertürkheimer Curve

All of these tunnels have been fully excavated. The rails have already been laid in several tunnels: More than 60 kilometers of slab track have been installed to date, some of which already extend as far as the future main station.