After over a year of protests, the residents of the state of Baden-Württemberg will be voting tomorrow in a referendum on the future of the main station in Stuttgart.

The project, called “Stuttgart 21″, plans to demolish part of the station and take the railway lines underground.  The so-called “Kopfbahnhof”, a station where the tracks end and trains go in and out of, would then become a “Durchgangsbahnhof”, where tracks and trains run through from one side to the other, resulting in a number of changes to the rail network in the area.

A year ago, the politicians were saying that the project had been decided on in a long planning process, and that nothing could be changed.  Then there was a conciliation process (“Schlichtung”) where alternatives where looked at, and apart from the railway being required to prove that the new station would really bring a benefit to the network, not much changed.

However after the local elections in March of this year, the political situation in Baden-Württemberg changed considerably, when the CDU/FDP coalition, who had been in favour of the project lost such a large share of the vote, that a new Green/SPD coalition was formed to take control of the local parliament. (more…)

Whilst the train may offer one of the most convenient ways to get to the Hessentag in Oberursel, the question a lot of visitors will be asking is when the last train leaves so that they can get home again.

This is going to be especially relevant to those visiting events such as the “Just White” concert and the YOU FM Clubnight which finish at 2am and 5am respectively, as both the U-Bahn and S-Bahn do not normally run through the night. (more…)

With the centre of Oberursel closed to traffic during the Hessentag, probably one of the easiest ways to get to and from the events is going to be by train, and since Oberursel has two lines running through it, this is probably going to be the most convenient as well.

Coming from Frankfurt you have the choice of taking the U-Bahn or the S-Bahn.  This choice is more than likely going to depend on where you live, so if you live anywhere on the line between the Südbahnhof and Niederursel, then you need take the U3.  There will be extra trains running between Heddernheim and Oberursel’s main station (Bahnhof). (more…)