Three billion for the ailing network
Bahn is hiring 3,000 skilled workers for construction work
05/18/2023 9:53 p.m
Things are worse for the German rail network than even Infrastructure Director Huber would have thought possible. That’s why the railways want to hire 3,000 specialists to bring stations, switches and tracks into shape. Three billion euros are earmarked for this.
Deutsche Bahn wants to get its ailing track network and stations in good shape with a lot of money and a massive increase in personnel. “We’re hiring 3,000 specialists this year alone – construction project planners and supervisors,” announced infrastructure director Berthold Huber to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “With this and with investments in modern construction machinery, we will double the capacity of our own railway construction division,” Huber continued. The aim is to push ahead with the necessary renovation of our own network. With additional staff, the group will also take stronger action against the risk of sabotage. “It is planned that we will hire 500 new security guards who will better protect the rails and systems,” said Huber.
Transport Minister Volker Wissing had asked Deutsche Bahn to find quick solutions to the massive delays in trains in addition to the years of general refurbishment. “This year we are accelerating the modernization of the network at our own expense,” announces Huber. “Around 2,000 kilometers of track, 1,800 switches and 200 bridges will be renewed by the end of the year.” Because Deutsche Bahn is also pre-financing over three billion euros, “we are modernizing 17 percent more tracks, 11 percent more switches and over 50 percent more control and safety technology systems than in the previous year”.
650 train stations are getting new equipment
In addition, 650 train stations were to be renewed. “We are planning new display systems for informing travelers and beautifying underpasses. We will raise platforms to enable stepless entry into the trains and install ramps and elevators to create accessibility,” Huber told the newspaper. The aim is also to turn “train stations in the big cities” into “mobility hubs” in the future – “and to equip them with bicycle parking garages”.
Huber took over the post from his predecessor Ronald Pofalla and has been responsible for the network since 2022. The board of directors admitted that the bad condition of the railway infrastructure surprised him too. “We already knew that we had a great need for renewal.” But the most recent analyzes “have clearly shown the full extent. The reality is that the rail infrastructure is not doing particularly well.” The obsolescence of the plants has not slowed down recently, but has even accelerated. “In 2017 we still had a backlog of 55 billion euros for renovations. Today it’s almost 90 billion euros,” said Huber, referring to the recent sharp rise in construction costs.