Consequences of the budget crisis
Modernization of the railway is becoming a distant prospect
February 3, 2024, 3:52 p.m
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The federal government wanted to invest a lot of money in order to modernize the rail network. The goal: to move freight transport from road to rail. Nothing will come of this for the time being. The savings plans due to the tight budget only allow the existing network to be renovated.
In the budget crisis, the railways also have to make do with less money: savings plans at the federally owned company are met with clear criticism. “We demand an end to political vandalism in the development of the rail infrastructure,” said the managing director of the Association of Freight Railways, Peter Westenberger, according to a statement.
It had previously become known where the company would have to make savings after the chaos surrounding the federal budget meant that it received significantly less money than initially planned. According to a letter to the supervisory board, the new infrastructure company DB InfraGo has decided to initially tackle the renovation of the existing network. However, numerous modernization measures were put on hold as a priority. The letter is available to the German Press Agency. “Spiegel” had previously reported on it.
The traffic light coalition originally set itself the goal of shifting significantly more goods to rail. A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport said that no individual projects could be deleted from the list. “We are fundamentally sticking to our new construction and expansion projects,” emphasized the railway. However, there is at least the risk of a major postponement of projects. “As agreed with the federal government, the focus of the implementation is initially on the modernization and renewal of the existing network and on the projects that are already under construction,” the railway said.
“Germany needs to renovate its rail network and build many additional tracks,” Westenberger continued. “If DB and the responsible ministries of finance and transport put the new construction and expansion in the freezer in December, they obviously fail to recognize their shared responsibility for the common good.” The transport policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Isabel Cademartori, said that despite the difficult budget situation, the Bundestag had decided on an “enormous increase in funding for rail” and called on the railways to provide clarity.