After 57 years in power, the Christian Democratic Union suffered a
heavy defeat in Sunday's state elections at the hands of the Greens and
Social Democrats (SPD). The leader of the SPD in Baden-Württemberg Dr
Nils Schmid welcomed DB's decision to suspend construction and said his
party "wants to let the citizens decide on [the fate of] the project."

stuttgart21.jpgGreen
state premier-elect Dr Winfried Kretschmann said his party enjoyed a
large boost in the polls from opposition to Stuttgart 21. Since 2009
the project has been the source of intense protest, including police
action last September that injured more than 100 people. Regular
demonstrations have taken place in the city, the largest of which
attracted almost 100,000 protestors.

Much of the acrimony
surrounding the project concerns its cost. The Green party argues the
true costs were unknown when it was granted parliamentary approval. The
project was originally expected to cost €2.6 billion, plus €2.03
billion for the 60km Wendlingen - Ulm high-speed line. The city section
is now expected to cost €4.1 billion, while a new study last year
revised the cost of the high-speed line to €2.89 billion, taking the
total cost to almost €7 billion.