Saturday 19th December 2020
13 billion lousy expected
Corona crisis is costing dearly for railways
The railway is suffering from the corona crisis and the associated drops in the utilization of trains. Already now there is a loss of 5.6 billion euros. According to the federal government, damage of at least 13 billion euros should have accumulated by 2024.
The federal government expects the Corona crisis to cost Deutsche Bahn at least 13 billion euros. A damage of 13 to 14 billion euros was calculated as the worst scenario at the beginning of the pandemic, said the government's rail commissioner, Enak Ferlemann from the CDU, the "Welt". "It is now clear: it will not result in our best scenario, but in the worst."
If the corona restrictions last longer, it could also be more expensive. "If we still have massive restrictions throughout January, February and March, or if measures are still necessary next autumn, then we have to examine what effects this has."
According to earlier information from corporate circles, the state-owned railway expects a slump in sales and a loss of 5.6 billion euros this year. Above all, the dramatic decrease in passengers in the Corona crisis is a burden, but also the problems in the goods division and in international business. From the group environment, it was last said that by the end of 2024 corona damage of up to 9.6 billion euros was expected. This week, the Bundestag raised the debt limit for Deutsche Bahn from 30 billion euros to 35 billion euros by the end of 2021.
Scheuer simplifies electrification
Meanwhile, Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer announced that he would like to simplify the electrification of railway lines. In the evaluation process for such projects, criteria such as climate protection should be given greater weight, said the CSU politician of the "Augsburger Allgemeine". So far, the projects have often failed because they fail the performance audit. "I want to change this evaluation procedure. Because if we continue as before, we will not get the climate-friendly, electrified route planning. I want to ensure that routes in regional and local transport in particular can be implemented more quickly," explained Scheuer.
The federal government's goal is to have 70 percent of the routes under power by the year 2025. Most recently, 61 percent of the rail network in Germany had overhead lines to drive electric locomotives. However, more than 90 percent of the transport volume is already provided on electrified rail lines. Diesel locomotives mostly run on branch lines.
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