Deutsche Bahn (DB) has signalled its support for the Stuttgart 21 station project, approving an additional 2 billion euros for the controversial scheme.
The cost of transforming Stuttgart Central Station into an underground interchange has been scaled up to 6.5 billion euros.
As well as the station works, the project includes construction of a new 60 km railway line from Stuttgart to Ulm to replace the historic infrastructure currently in place.
The Stuttgart-Ulm route is part of a high-speed network connecting Paris with Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Munich and Vienna.
Stuttgart 21 has been the subject of several major demonstrations since it was first announced in 1994.
During a meeting to discuss the project earlier this week, a DB supervisory board agreed that it would be more expensive to cancel the project than to continue.
With the decision, DB has said it will demand financial contributions from project partners to cover the additional costs.
The Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, responded to the announcement, saying: “It is the responsibility of the railway and the federal government, not the country, working to build train stations.”
