High expectations are regularly attached to the appearances of Federal Transport Ministers in Rüdesheim. But they have all been disappointed so far. The “deal of the century” signed by Matthias Wissmann (CDU) in 1998 to finance the Rüdesheim rail tunnel was ultimately not worth the paper it was printed on. And the visit by Peter Ramsauer (CSU) in 2012 was followed a little later by the sober statement that there should be no hope of removing the Rüdesheim level crossing for the time being.
Too expensive and therefore not economically worthwhile, was the result of the benefit-cost analysis, which was devastating for Rüdesheim. However, it has now become apparent that alternative solutions are not much cheaper for the federal government. In fact, the costs increase with every year of hesitation, hesitation and waiting.
What was notable about Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder’s (CDU) visit was that he didn’t even make any commitments of any kind. It is therefore by no means certain that the federal government will follow up on the demands of the Railway Crossing Act and that the railway crossing in Rüdesheim, which is closed eight hours a day, will become unnecessary within a reasonable period of time.
Every solution becomes more and more expensive
And even if it does, Rüdesheim can probably not expect that the desire for the road tunnel will be financed by the federal government. A road bridge is much cheaper to build and maintain and still meets the region’s core concern: unhindered travel into the Middle Rhine Valley.
A road bridge on the banks of the Rhine, which would undoubtedly be detrimental to the cityscape of Rüdesheim and would therefore damage the visual integrity of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 2002, could only be prevented as things currently stand if UNESCO unequivocally threatened the federal government with withdrawing its World Heritage designation if it insisted on the bridge.
The federal government will want to avoid a second Dresden – even then it was about building a bridge – with negative headlines beyond the state’s borders. The revocation of Dresden’s World Heritage title is still considered a cultural-political embarrassment for Germany.
However, it is by no means ruled out that if the worst comes to the worst, the federal government will forego the expensive tunnel and Rüdesheim will have to continue living with the barrier. For Rüdesheim and the region that would be the worst solution of all. The only bright spot is that Schnieder wants to make a decision soon. If it does not provide the cost commitment for the tunnel construction, Rüdesheim will not be satisfied with it. The dispute over the level crossing, which has lasted well over 100 years, continues.
