In his letter, he begins by discussing the vegetation maintenance work on the Markgröningen railroad: In consultation with the member municipalities of the special-purpose association and in accordance with a request from the district council, the district administration had commissioned the owner of the Markgröninger Bahn to carry out the work. This would take place in places that the lower nature conservation authority considers to be unproblematic from a species and nature conservation point of view. The work will initiate a process to prepare the route for reactivation from a nature conservation perspective. The work will begin on February 22 at Zeppelinstraße in Markgröningen and on February 24 at Daimlerstraße in Möglingen and is expected to take three to five working days in each case.
With the current tailwind from the federal and state governments, Allgaier continued, the special purpose association is pursuing the goal of transferring the Markgröningen railroad to municipal ownership. The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport and the Parliamentary State Secretary and member of the Bundestag Steffen Bilger had promised their support and encouraged the district in its intention. Further talks on the subject have been scheduled.
The Zweckverband Stadtbahn im Landkreis Ludwigsburg was formally established on January 16 with the publication of the statutes in the Baden-Württemberg State Gazette. The district council appointed the representatives of the district for the association assembly at its January meeting. The neighboring municipalities and the Pattonville special-purpose association will appoint their representatives and guests in the coming weeks and months. According to the district administration's plan, the founding meeting should take place in the spring - when exactly this can take place depends on the timing of the decisions in the neighboring municipalities. Now that the Schwieberdingen municipal council has approved the association's statutes and accession to the special-purpose association, Schwieberdingen's admission is being prepared.
Last year, the district administration, in consultation with the member municipalities, commissioned a recruitment consultancy to find a management team for the special-purpose association. The recruitment process has not yet been completed, partly due to the pandemic-related restrictions. Further interviews are therefore planned for this month. All administrative heads of the member municipalities are involved in the decision-making process or have the opportunity to participate.
At the end of his letter, District Administrator Allgaier refers to various contracts and awards: Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG) has been commissioned to check the plausibility of the milestone plan for the light rail project. The framework schedules for the Markgröninger Bahn from 2018 would also be taken into account. The commission is expected to be completed by the end of March at the latest. The award procedures have been initiated for the cost comparison of the Markgröninger Bahn in accordance with the Railway Construction and Operating Regulations (EBO) and the Tram Construction and Operating Regulations (BOStrab) as well as for the potential study of a light rail branch via Karlshöhe and Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG (W&W). Results are expected by the end of spring. The award procedure to accompany the planning services should be initiated as soon as possible in coordination with the special-purpose association municipalities. The basis for the current preparations is the planning variant 1 (Mitfall 1) currently approved by the committees of the member municipalities. A new or updated standardized assessment, which is fundamental for the funding application, is also to be commissioned this year. The final coordination will take place with the member municipalities of the special-purpose association or in the committees of the special-purpose association once they have been constituted.
