OBERBURGERMEISTER Ludwig Scholz and Bavaria’s Interior Minister Günther Becker were the guests of honour on November 27 when Nürnberg Transit celebrated the extension of U-Bahn Line 2 to the city’s airport. The 3·5 km extension northwest from Herrnhütte cost DM180m, including an intermediate station at Ziegelstein which lifts the network’s total from 37 to 39. VAG Executive Chairman Herbert Dombrowsky said the extension brought an ’international flair’ to the network, with the introduction of multilingual announcements.
Noting that the airport was now within 25 min of the city’s trade fair, Becker said the U-Bahn investment was a boost for both manufacturing and service industries in the region. Airport Director Rainer Schwarz suggested that arrival of the U-Bahn would help to generate up to 5000 new jobs in the area around the airport by 2010.
During the ceremonies, Scholz stressed that Nürnberg was firmly committed to modernising and expanding its local rail network. He expected a formal go-ahead early in 2000 for the start of work on U-Bahn Line 3 from Nordwestring to Gebersdorf, which is to be designed for driverless operation.
