Overview
- Deutsche Bahn published an explanatory video on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, saying it will not fit the new Stuttgart 21 underground station with air conditioning and has reiterated that technical claim.
- DB’s explanation says the station will take on the earth’s temperature, sit at the lowest point of the Stuttgart basin, and receive cooler air from long tunnels that rise away from the hall, with trains helping exchange air.
- A DB spokesman gave tunnel figures to distinguish the design: connecting tunnels of three to nine kilometres and depths up to about 220 metres, which DB says make the deep station different from the nearby shallow S‑Bahn platform.
- The video provoked widespread online scepticism and mockery, with viewers citing heat from electric trains, crowded platforms and examples like the London Underground and the nearby S‑Bahn to question comfort and safety.
- The decision has not been reversed and the station’s opening remains delayed to the end of 2031, a history of cost, schedule and technical problems that feeds public concern about comfort and long‑term performance.