Overview
- A DB video explaining the engineering rationale for the decision was posted online and drew widespread mockery and critical comments from users on Tuesday.
- DB engineers say the station sits at the lowest point of the Stuttgart basin and connects to tunnels three to nine kilometres long and up to 220 metres deep, which they say will cool incoming air and stabilise the hall’s temperature.
- Critics and commuters point to the nearby S‑Bahn’s hot, stuffy platforms and to systems like the London Underground to argue that train waste heat and long‑term warming of soils can still make deep stations uncomfortable.
- The announcement comes after a fresh postponement of the station’s opening to December 2031 and recent construction errors such as a wrong‑cable installation reported in June, which have increased public skepticism of DB’s claims.
- DB has not changed the no‑air‑conditioning plan and the issues to watch next are more detailed ventilation tests, modelling of waste heat from trains and any formal temperature or comfort guarantees ahead of commissioning.