On Wednesday, the Munich City Council will launch an essential building block for the U9 – the new subway line that is to connect the districts of Sendling and Schwabing. But the city treasury warns: Munich cannot afford the entire project. That’s why she advises pulling the ripcord on Wednesday and not releasing any money in the city council for a first stop – the one under the main station.

The consequence would be “that the planning and implementation of the entire U9 line will also be completed,” according to the Treasury. But Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) and the large factions want to push ahead with the expansion of the Munich subway network. They confirmed this to Bayerischer Rundfunk.

The treasurer’s concern: there are no concrete funding commitments

At the end of the 2030s, the U9 is to run from Sendling through the city center to the north of Munich, thereby noticeably relieving the other lines and the streets. Until then, the finance department expects costs of up to ten billion euros – and only regular subsidies from the federal and state governments.

There are no concrete funding commitments yet. According to the financial experts’ forecast, up to 6.7 billion euros will remain in the city. In addition, there are high expenses for further public transport measures in Munich as well as extensive financial obligations for school and housing construction.

Connection to second trunk route must now be built

Against this background, the U9 “cannot be financed”, i.e. the treasury. As a consequence, she recommends not spending any money on the bus stop under the main train station. There the new subway line with the second S-Bahn trunk line get connected. This should already be taken into account when building the new S-Bahn tunnel. According to the current status, the so-called “suspension structure” costs around 560 million euros, which the city council has to vote on on Wednesday.

Mayor Reiter: Approve for “sustainable subway network”

There is “undoubtedly a residual financial risk in terms of sufficient funding from the federal and state governments,” admits Mayor Dieter Reiter when asked by BR. Nevertheless, he would agree to the holding structure so as not to prevent a sustainable subway network with the U9, the mayor said: “If we want to see a traffic turnaround together with the federal and state governments, projects such as the U9 and the second S-Bahn -master route can be realized and jointly managed.”

The town hall SPD is also convinced that millions of passengers will benefit from the new U9. “Therefore, it is also right to invest a three-digit million amount today so that we can build the necessary subway in the 2030s,” emphasizes traffic policy spokesman Nikolaus Gradl: “We can only turn the traffic around in the metropolises with high investments reach.”

Greens: U9 “absolutely necessary building block for the traffic turnaround”

The Greens are also in favor of pre-financing the “suspension structure”. “The U9 is an absolutely necessary building block for the traffic turnaround and for strengthening public transport at the Munich main station junction,” says parliamentary group member Mona Fuchs: “We are convinced that the federal government will not be able to avoid promoting the U9 proportionately together with the Free State in the medium term. “Otherwise the federal government would have “gambled away every climate protection and transport policy credit”.

CSU expects “German grants” from the federal government

The CSU expects “significant subsidies” from the federal government. It was never planned for the city to finance the U9 alone. “In order to specifically negotiate grants, she must now clearly commit to this project,” says parliamentary group leader Manual Pretzl: “The construction of the U9 is a significant investment in our future transport network.”

A large majority seems assured

This means that the broad majority should continue to stand for the U9. At the same time, fears that the second main route, which has already been rescheduled, will have to be rescheduled again and that there will be further delays, are likely to be off the table for the time being.