“Patience is coming to an end”: Söder wants truck roadblocks in Bavaria
Demand to the federal government: driving bans
The Bavarian Prime Minister demanded “departure bans for national traffic on the A8 and A93” from the federal government. In the BR interview, Söder emphasized that the federal government was responsible for the federal motorway. He wants to look for solutions together with the federal government. The Bavarian police can then control the departures accordingly.
The CSU politician complained that so far there has been too little movement in Berlin and Brussels.” Our proposal for a southern toll from Munich to Verona on the Brenner route has also only been hesitantly followed up to now, although Bavaria, Tyrol and South Tyrol are in favour.” The Free State should now protect its citizens.
Aiwanger: Subsidize freight transport by rail
The Bavarian Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (free voters) called on the federal government to subsidize rail freight transport. “As long as rail freight transport continues to be significantly more expensive and less reliable than road transport, little will change,” argued Aiwanger.
The federal government should therefore provide financial support for freight transport by rail, including short distances from southern Germany. “We are currently also subsidizing public transport for passenger transport with the 9-euro ticket. Why not implement something similar in freight transport?” said the free-voter politician.
District office is looking for a legally secure solution
According to the Rosenheim district office, talks have already taken place with the transport and interior ministers, as well as with the police and the federal autobahn GmbH. Blocking the motorway exits for truck transit traffic is the preferred idea. Considerations that the district office blocks through roads for transit traffic are more difficult to implement. It is still being checked whether there is a legally secure solution for this, according to the district office.
The mayor of the market town of Neubeuern, Christoph Schneider, praised Söder’s demand: “Finally things are moving.” Brannenburg’s mayor Matthias Jokisch told the BR: “Indeed, something has to happen quickly, because the burden is simply no longer bearable.”
Tyrol wants to “hold emergency measures”
Tyrol’s governor Günther Platter sees the block handling confirmed by the Bavarian advance. Söder’s call reminded him of the Tyrolean fight against traffic pollution, said Platter in Innsbruck. “The transit traffic along the Brenner corridor does not originate in Tyrol or Bavaria. We may be the victims of a misguided European transport policy that has severely restricted road transport and triggered a transit avalanche in recent years.”
Tyrol has been feeling the effects for many years. “That’s why we are defending ourselves with emergency measures such as block handling,” emphasized the governor. The population along the Bavarian motorway sections is also affected by the transit burden. In the end, what is needed is an overall solution at European level. “As long as these do not exist and the burden is on this scale, Tyrol will stick to the emergency measures and under no circumstances will block handling or driving bans be relaxed.”
Federal Ministry of Transport: Talks with Austria
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Transport emphasized that Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) was holding talks with Austria regarding block handling and was striving for an amicable solution. “The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Affairs has long been campaigning for the abolition of the one-sided traffic-restricting measures in the Brenner region.” In addition to truck block handling, there are also driving bans for certain times and vehicles as well as transport bans for certain goods. “This makes the free movement of goods considerably more difficult and leads to traffic jams.”
SPD: Söder will distract
The Bavarian SPD parliamentary group leader Florian von Brunn reported that he was surprised “that the CSU has no influence whatsoever on its conservative sister party ÖVP in Austria”. He accused the Prime Minister of wanting to distract attention from the fact that “the CSU transport ministers from Ramsauer to Dobrindt to Scheuer have not managed to get the goods on the rails”. The victims are now the local residents. Von Brunn added: “I hope Federal Transport Minister Wissing will take matters into his own hands, because things cannot go on like this!”
FDP: “Kindergarten level”
The FDP district chairman in Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Simon Roloff, described Söder’s statements as “quark”. “The block handling in Tyrol exists because we haven’t made any progress with the burner expansion (which would also relieve us massively) for years and you have no interest in a constructive exchange with our neighbors,” tweeted Roloff. “That’s kindergarten level.”
On the other hand, the Rosenheim CSU member of the Bundestag, Daniela Ludwig, welcomed the Prime Minister’s initiative. “That’s good news for our region! It’s good that Markus Söder has made the matter a top priority!”
Regular traffic jams
The background is the violent dispute between Bavaria and Tyrol over traffic management that has been smoldering for years. In order to relieve the pressure on the Inntal autobahn leading to the Brenner, the Austrian federal state restricted entry for trucks for a total of 38 days this year. At the Kufstein/Kiefersfelden border crossing, a maximum of around 300 trucks coming from Germany on the A12 will be allowed to enter the country every hour. If necessary, heavy traffic WILL be brought to a complete standstill. This regularly results in traffic jams in the Munich area.
(With material from dpa)