Left criticizes the lack of funds
Federal government plans 88 billion euros for railways by 2027
May 28, 2023 at 4:53 p.m
The federal government wants to invest 88 billion euros in the expansion and modernization of Deutsche Bahn over the next four years. However, only half of the sum is included in the financial plan. The left suspects the abandonment of a coalition promise.
The federal government anticipates that the railways in Germany will need to invest EUR 88 billion by 2027. This is the result of a government response to a request from left-wing budget expert Victor Perli. The government did not comment on how this would be financed, citing the ongoing budgeting process.
Of the expected costs, in particular for the expansion and renovation of the dilapidated rail network, 43 billion euros have so far been taken into account in the federal financial planning. At the end of April, the coalition committee of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP passed a resolution for the remaining 45 billion euros, according to which funds from the truck toll should be used to finance it. This has now been reaffirmed by the government.
The government’s response makes it clear that these 45 billion euros do not include funds that have already been planned, but rather additional funds. The total amount is thus 88 billion euros for the period 2024 to 2027, it said.
“Strengthening the railways requires much more funding than the traffic light coalition has made available so far,” explained Perli. He criticized that the expansion targets for the railways have so far been “completely underfunded”. The traffic light coalition said goodbye “quietly and secretly to its coalition promise to double passenger traffic by 2030 and to bring a quarter of freight traffic onto the rails”.
Left: Refrain from nonsensical prestige projects
In order to achieve these goals, the government must invest twice as much in the railways by 2027 as previously planned by Transport Minister Volker Wissing, explained Perli. He called for an “investment offensive worth billions” to be initiated immediately. The train must “become more attractive and an alternative to the car, especially in rural areas”. This is more important than “nonsensical, expensive prestige projects” like the controversial Stuttgart 21 project.
A federal government draft for the 2024 budget and medium-term financial planning is not yet available – also because of differences of opinion in the traffic light coalition. Finance Minister Christian Lindner therefore waived the government’s usual budget decision in March. The deadline for the cabinet to deal with the draft budget at the end of June has also been postponed. It could now take place in July, but there is no official date yet.