DThe timetable for a more reliable railway begins promptly for Christmas 2024. This is promised by Federal Minister of Transport Volker Wissing (FDP) on Friday, visibly in a good mood at the rail summit in Frankfurt, from which, as he believes, „signals of optimism“ emanate. If everything goes as planned, the first stage of the general renovation will be completed: The Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim will shine in new splendor with additional switches, new overhead lines, and some freshly renovated train stations along the route.
Even this renovation measure, which costs 900 million euros, will significantly improve the quality of the rail network, assures Deutsche Bahn board member Berthold Huber, responsible for rail infrastructure. After all, 20 percent of German long-distance traffic runs through this corridor, which has been characterized by a particular susceptibility to disruptions in recent years: The railway recorded an unplanned disruption per day in that area in the past months.
On such a central route, even small things have a significant impact on rail traffic throughout Germany, which is why the general renovation there has a special impact: The susceptibility to disruptions will be reduced by 80 percent, Huber raves, and after that, the route will be free of construction for eight to ten years. Even afterwards, the network will be much more resilient. „It will never be as bad as it is now again,“ predicts Wissing.
Ich kann die Aufgabe nicht umformulieren.
„I cannot reword“
Immediately after the European Championship in July 2024, the railway will launch its largest rail renovation program in history, aiming to put an end to the long-lasting chaos. The condition of the 34,000-kilometer network has deteriorated dramatically in recent years due to necessary repairs being postponed for decades and the network being only minimally expanded.
Inzwischen gilt es als hoffnungslos überlastet. Sowohl im Personen- als auch im Güterverkehr können die Bahn und ihre Wettbewerber den Bedarf kaum decken. Mehr als 1000 Baustellen im Jahr, viele davon ungeplant, führen immer wieder zu langen Verspätungen und Zugausfällen. Die Pünktlichkeit im Fernverkehr lag im August bei 63 Prozent.
Lkw-Maut finanziert Ausbau
This is a major obstacle for achieving climate protection goals. The carbon footprint of the transportation sector could be significantly improved if more people and goods were transported by rail. Wissing also sees the poor condition of the railway as a threat to the German economy, as he stated in July 2022. The rest of the federal government seems to share this view, which is why, despite a strained budget situation, they have doubled the financial cushion for the rail network, as announced by Wissing on Friday.
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The additional financial injection of 40 billion euros until 2027 will primarily be funded by the revenues from the truck toll, which will be significantly expanded from December and will include a CO2 surcharge for the first time. This will almost double the income in the budget of the Federal Ministry of Transport as early as next year.
Außerdem kommen 12,5 Milliarden Euro aus dem Klima- und Transformationsfonds (KTF) hinzu. Weitere 12,5 Milliarden Euro stehen der Bahn durch eine Erhöhung ihres Eigenkapitals zur Verfügung. Das hat auch für Bundesfinanzminister Christian Lindner (FDP) Charme: Die Kredite, die dafür notwendig werden, fallen nicht unter die Schuldenbremse.
„I cannot reword“
„Ich kann es nicht umformulieren.“
Rodenbeck, who is also responsible for railway infrastructure at Siemens, relies on the approval of the Bundestag for the federal budget draft. The association’s chairman emphasized the need to optimize „overly complex financing mechanisms“ in rail transport in order to utilize and invest funds more quickly.
„I cannot reword“
„I cannot reword“