The transport committee of the Bundestag had the new Hamburg-Hannover line on its agenda, but no decision was reached. According to NDR, the Union and SPD support the project but do not want to vote yet. CDU transport politician Michael Donth cited ongoing talks as the reason for the postponement. At the same time, transport politicians from both factions have already agreed on a joint motion: they support a new route if improvements are made to the existing line.
Isabel Cademartori, the SPD parliamentary group’s transport policy spokesperson, confirmed a joint draft but pointed to the need for consultations in the affected regions. The next regular session of the transport committee is not until September 23 – after the Lower Saxony local elections on September 13. Cademartori announced that a decision would be made then.
The opposition Greens accuse SPD and CDU of election tactics. Swantje Michaelsen, a Green Party member of the Bundestag from Lower Saxony, told NDR that the factions apparently want to avoid conflict in some constituencies before the local elections. The constituency of SPD leader Lars Klingbeil would be directly affected by the controversial new route. The Allianz pro Schiene association criticized the renewed delay as a “disgrace” – managing director Dirk Flege said that MPs are putting party political interests above the urgently needed elimination of the bottleneck.
Source: www.ndr.de
