New exhibit, unique in Europe, enables unforgettable experience in new central station.

Today, Tuesday, December 29, 2015, the Stuttgart-Ulm Rail Project Association presented visitor figures, upcoming events in 2016 and new exhibits that are unique in public relations throughout Europe at the Turmforum. "The association looks back on a successful 2015," said Georg Brunnhuber, association chairman, on the occasion of the visitor figures. "At this year's general meeting, the association members were unanimous in confirming our work and our concept, and were pleased to note the good visitor numbers at our exhibition centers and on the site." The good visitor numbers of 2014 were increased once again by around 15,000 visitors to a total of around 245,000 visitors. The attractiveness of the guided tours in the Tower Forum (2015: 859; 2014: 602) and on the construction sites (2015: 468; 2014: 84) is also reflected by the high demand in 2015. "This shows that the chosen path of providing citizens with information directly on site and in an entertaining way is being accepted," sums up Brunnhuber.

From Monday, 04 January 2016 up to and including Wednesday, 06 January 2016, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day, the Stuttgart-Ulm rail project is inviting interested parties for the first time to what is probably the best-known construction site at and around Stuttgart Central Station. "We are opening the gates of the construction site from the Kriegsberg to the Planetarium. Visitors can walk along the construction roads away from the public roads from construction site to construction site, to the cup support or to the excavation pit of the Nesenbach culvert and talk to the engineers and workers on site," Brunnhuber explains the concept. "In addition, the employees of the company Hölscher Wasserbau offer guided tours of the groundwater purification plant." He adds that the station itself also has a lot to offer in addition to the central exhibition in the tower forum. For example, there will be the opportunity to take a digital look at the new main station and listen to the "Orchestra of Cultures" on Wednesday, January 06 between 11:00 and 13:00, Brunnhuber added. Special thanks are due to DB Projekt Stuttgart-Ulm as the building owner and the contractors involved, who are working day after day to complete the project on time and on budget and who also agreed to open the construction site to the public within the Christmas lull and to provide expert information with their staff.

The offer from the virtual reality (VR) sector has expanded the rail project for everyone. With the cardboard glasses, which are available in retail stores, three different films bring the tunnel construction to the citizens "quasi live" directly into the living room. At www.bsu.link/virtuelle-realitaet the VR films with 360° optics take you to the tunnel construction sites of the Cannstatt Tunnel, the Filder Tunnel with its tunnel boring machine, and the tunnel "Zuführung Ober-/Untertürkheim".

The Stuttgart-Ulm Rail Project Association and the Stuttgart-based company Lightshape GmbH & Co. KG are coming up with. The so-called Holodeck enables visitors to move around virtually in the new main station and the newly designed Bonatzbau. "Our guests can get their own virtual impression of how the new main station and the Bonatzbau work together by means of glasses and an exhibit." A direct flow of information is thus guaranteed, he said. This technology is being used for the first time in a public construction project.

Robin Wenk, Managing Director of Lightshape GmbH und Co. KG and co-developer of the Holodeck, adds: "With this type of public relations work and using VR technology, the rail project is treading a path that is unique in Europe. Looking around freely in buildings of the future, walking through them, provides users with a unique experience." The future belongs to this further development of VR technology. Both in the working world, starting with decision-makers but also employees, and in communication. "Workflows and on-site situations can be grasped more quickly and processes can thus be streamlined. Because what we have seen with our own eyes, we can understand better and more easily. I am convinced that once we get used to this technology, it will change people's everyday lives. Just like the Internet." The exhibit for the rail project was created in collaboration with Stuttgart-based agency "Plan B," which provided the digital framework for the station. Further information on the Stuttgart-Ulm rail project is available on the project homepage: www.bahnprojekt-stuttgart-ulm.de