Court Dismisses Deutsche Bahn’s Stuttgart 21 Appeal

The Administrative Court of Appeal of Baden-Württemberg has rejected Deutsche Bahn’s (DB) appeal of a 2024 judgment concerning the financing of the Stuttgart 21 infrastructure project.

The decision confirms that the State of Baden-Württemberg bears no financial responsibility for the project’s substantial cost overruns.

The court upheld an earlier ruling by the Stuttgart Administrative Court, which dismissed DB’s claims for approximately 7 billion EUR in additional costs. The 2024 ruling found no legal basis, contractual or statutory, for requiring the state or other defendants to contribute beyond the amounts originally agreed.

Legal representation for the state was led by global law firm White & Case LLP.

Henning Berger, the partner at White & Case who led the legal team said:

At no point did the State of Baden-Württemberg assume any obligation to cover the cost overruns of the Stuttgart 21 project. The state only made specific financial contributions under public subsidy law, as clearly and unambiguously defined in the financing agreement. The Administrative Court of Appeal has now confirmed this in its decision.

The ruling by the higher court is final and cannot be appealed through ordinary legal channels. According to the Administrative Court of Appeal, there were no substantial doubts regarding the original judgment’s accuracy.

The City of Stuttgart has welcomed the court’s confirmation of the 2024 judgment. Stuttgart, which committed approximately 300 million EUR to the project, is not required to contribute further.

Lord Mayor Dr. Frank Nopper said:

We welcome the decision of the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg. It confirms the legal opinion of the state capital and fills us with great relief and joy - but by no means with schadenfreude towards Deutsche Bahn. The courts have confirmed that the city does not have to contribute to the additional costs of the Stuttgart 21 project amounting to around 6.9 billion euros. This means that a huge boulder has fallen from our hearts. We remain committed to Deutsche Bahn as a constructive partner even in the final stages of the Stuttgart 21 project.

DB has announced its intention to open the new through station in December 2026. This contrasts with the initial planned completion date of 2019.