Thousands of people are protesting against the construction of a new train station in Stuttgart

Stuttgart (Germany) - The protest of thousands of people against the construction of a new railway station in Stuttgart forced the cessation of demolition work on the original building today. This was reported by the AP agency, citing police sources. Demonstrations against the new station have been ongoing for several days, and according to the police, the protesters are becoming increasingly aggressive.
    On Wednesday, the protests intensified when construction workers began demolishing part of the original station building, which must make way for the construction of an underground railway hub. Around 6,000 demonstrators gathered in front of the station. Some of them protested overnight. Today, seven activists broke into the old building and settled on its roof, which required the demolition to be stopped.
    "As long as there are people in the building, demolition cannot continue," said police spokesperson Christine Honer. According to her, the police are negotiating with the demonstrators and trying to persuade them to leave the station.
    Nevertheless, the protesters welcomed the halt to construction with enthusiasm and called on their supporters to join the demonstrations. Another large manifestation is planned for the night from Friday to Saturday.
    The demonstrations began in the summer when the construction of a new railway hub valued at 4.1 billion euros (102 billion crowns) was officially launched. However, an excited debate accompanied the preparation for the construction, which was discussed for about 15 years.
    According to Stuttgart police chief Siegfried Stumpf, the demonstrators are becoming increasingly aggressive, and the protests have lost their original peaceful character. He criticized the protesters not only for occupying the roof of the old station but also for building barricades in the streets of the city and for throwing eggs and bottles at workers.
    The new railway hub is designed to take trains underground and free up land from the original station for the construction of new apartments and commercial buildings. At the same time, new underground tracks should be built to speed up connections between Stuttgart and Munich.
    However, opponents of the construction argue that the project is unnecessarily expensive and will not speed up rail transport. They also fear that the new tunnels will be unstable due to the geological conditions beneath Stuttgart.