Two years is how long the preparation, planning and approval work lasted, followed by the ground-breaking in March 2018, and now the inauguration in early December. When the timetable changes on December 15, 2019, the new train stop “Ingolstadt Audi” will open for train traffic. The regional train from Munich to Nuremberg (and back) via Ingolstadt and Treuchtlingen will also stop at the Audi plant premises every hour from now on. In the initial phase, around 3,000 commuters per day are expected at what is now Ingolstadt’s third train station.
The joint project of the four partners (the state of Bavaria, the city of Ingolstadt, Deutsche Bahn and AUDI AG) is designed to reduce the traffic burden in the Ingolstadt region and to improve mobility options in the long term. This means that, in the future, more Audi employees from the area around Ingolstadt will be able to come to work without experiencing traffic jams or having to look for a parking space, and all in an environmentally friendly manner. In the immediate vicinity of the train station, an internal transport hub to the south offers a connection to the existing plant infrastructure. Employees board shuttle buses and reach their posts quickly and conveniently. A fleet of 20 VW Caravelles and 15 MAN buses are available for the comprehensive shuttle bus line network. 90 Audi bus drivers transport the employees on 17 lines within the plant. Twelve lines head for external sites, among them the GVZ Logistics Center, sites in Gaimersheim and Friedrichshofen, the Interpark, Audi-Akademie in the center of the city and Münchsmünster.
In addition, around 1,700 company bicycles are available at the Ingolstadt site. The employees can unlock and lock the bicycles at over 500 parking spots using their own sharing card, and then cycle to their business appointment quickly by bike.
The external transport hub in the north of the train station will be used by visitors and residents of the region in the future as well. It is possible to change trains here; when people arrive and depart, public bus lines, some parking spaces, two taxi stands as well as bicycle parking spaces are available. The lines 11, X11, X12, S7 and S8 stop at the North bus hub (they all go through the plant premises as well), as well as lines 15, S4, S5, S9. Bus line 11 stops at the South bus hub on the plant premises. Various internal shuttle buses also stop at this stop.
Since 2012, AUDI AG has been cooperating with Ingolstädter Verkehrsgesellschaft GmbH (INVG), and offers the inexpensive bus job ticket for employees. 3,500 Audi employees used this offering last year. Together with INVG, Audi offers the bus and train job ticket in the form of an annual ticket. To motivate even more employees to switch to using public transport, this ticket will be subsidized by Audi from December onwards. This discounted job ticket will allow employees to save up to 50% and a maximum of €300 a year.
The Ingolstadt Audi train stop is an additional stop on the Ingolstadt – Treuchtlingen route. In a second expansion stage, it is possible that additional trains from other directions will stop here as well. To facilitate this, a facility to allow trains to turn is to be created in Gaimersheim train station in the form of an additional track.