The Stuttgart-Ulm rail project association has been able to welcome and inform more than 170,000 people in the exhibition and on the construction sites in 2019. "Interest in what we have to offer continues to be at a high level," says a pleased Bernhard Bauer, the new chairman of the Verein Bahnprojekt Stuttgart-Ulm e.V. since August.

"The successful triad of exhibition, guided tours of the construction site, and large and small events is something that the people of Stuttgart and the citizens of Baden-Württemberg like to take advantage of."

The association already has two important events in the first quarter of the new year. The construction site open days and the opening of the new exhibition building, the InfoTurm Stuttgart (ITS) at the end of March.

"This is the fifth time the association has invited people to the construction sites around the new through station and the adjacent tunnels," says Bernhard Bauer. "With an average of 32,000 visitors, it is the first major event of the year in Stuttgart." Visitors can visit the construction site from January 3 to 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, without registration and free of charge.

"The new InfoTurm Stuttgart, or ITS for short, will be the new contact point for all topics relating to the rail project and the associated future issues. All project partners have financially supported the new building and are presenting themselves there," Bauer announced on the occasion of the upcoming opening of the new exhibition building. "Everyone wanted and managed this additional project together. It is thus a proof of the good cooperation within the association. We all want people to look forward to the completion of the rail project, to finally benefit from ecological and comfortable train connections, and to tangibly implement the other important projects in Stuttgart and the region."

Numbers 2019
In 2019, the exhibition in the Tower Forum was closed at 6 p.m. on July 28, 2019. After 21 years and a good 4.3 million visitors, an era within the rail project and the project partners came to an end. With almost 120,000 visitors who visited the exhibition until the end of July, the good figures of the previous years could be continued. If the series of figures were to be continued with average values for the last five years, just under 220,000 people would have visited the exhibition.

With around 686 guided tours of the exhibition (2018: around 795) and 1,143 on the construction site (2018: just under 1,233), the restriction of having to work without a central exhibition platform was noticeable. With a total of over 1,800 guided tours conducted (with just under 17,000 guests), the previous year's figures were nevertheless maintained at a somewhat lower level (minus ten percent).

The 2019 events at the site were attended by nearly 40,000 interested people.

In total, more than 170,000 interested people were informed about the rail project.

Construction site open days around the main station: January 03-05, 2020, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
This is the fifth time that the rail project is inviting interested parties to the construction sites around Stuttgart Central Station. Over three days, they can experience the full dimension of the construction site. In direct contact with builders, engineers and experts, questions can be asked about the pattern cup, the platform incline, tunnel construction, groundwater management and much more. The event area is open on the three days without registration and free of charge for all interested parties. Last admission is at 3:30 pm.

Association budget
On December 6, 2019, the general meeting of the association was held to adopt the 2020 budget. As in previous years, the financial resources of the association, which finances public relations work through grants, was a topic. It is gratifying that all members appreciate the work of the association and want to support it with additional funds and thus ensure adequate financing until the end of 2025. For example, Deutsche Bahn, the state of Baden-Württemberg and the state capital Stuttgart increased their subsidies. Additional funding came from the Verband Region Stuttgart and Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH. The latter exclusively supports public relations work around the airport connection.

This gives the association an annual budget of around three million euros to carry out its statutory tasks in 2020 and 2021.