Because the traffic light government has to save money, almost all of the railway’s new construction projects are apparently on the rocks. This is reported by several media outlets. These include several important rail projects for the economy.
The traffic light coalition’s austerity measures following the Federal Constitutional Court’s budget ruling are apparently having a greater impact on planned rail investments than previously known. As “Spiegel” and the Reuters news agency report, Deutsche Bahn has to largely stop its new construction projects. The reason is the planned cuts in the federal budget, which also affect the budget of the Ministry of Transport.
The austerity measures will therefore hit passenger transport and especially freight transport hard. This emerges from a list by the rail network company InfraGO, according to Reuters and “Spiegel”. According to the magazine, of the around 40 billion euros that the federal government had promised to the railway, there are still 27 billion left – which will now mainly flow into the existing stock. There is not enough money for expansion projects. Because of the budget uncertainties, “a short-term prioritization of infrastructure measures is required,” the paper quotes.
A long cross-list
The remaining funds for the coming years will apparently flow almost exclusively into the renovation of existing routes; construction projects that are already underway are still to be completed. Central projects such as the new Frankfurt-Mannheim line, which has been planned for decades, now have no chance, reports Reuters.
Also on the strike list is apparently a planned digital signal box for the Hamburg S-Bahn, the relocation of a train station in Brandenburg to connect the Tesla factory in Grünheide and the expansion of the eastern freight corridor from Uelzen to Halle.
International connections are also affected
The list also includes the inlet for the Swiss Gotthard Tunnel between Karlsruhe and Basel – a central section for European freight traffic. According to “Spiegel”, there is also a lack of money for a meaningful connection of the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel to Denmark, which is currently being built, to the cities of Lübeck and Hamburg.
Deutsche Bahn stated that it was fundamentally sticking to all expansion plans. However, given the current budget situation, the timing of the projects had to be checked. “As agreed with the federal government, the focus of implementation is initially on modernizing and renewing the existing network and on the projects that are already under construction,” said a railway spokeswoman. They now want to develop solutions to continue the planning until the financing has been clarified.
Is there a risk of “massive damage to the economy”?
The Ministry of Transport pointed out that around three quarters of the expected additional needs were covered in the budget round. In addition, we continue to work to provide the funds necessary for rail. Even if renovation has priority, new construction and expansion are still necessary.
Green railway expert Matthias Gastel warned of clear-cutting. The federal government’s goals such as the relocation of rail freight transport or the electrification of railway lines threatened to fail. “The Ministry of Transport and Finance must now come up with solutions, otherwise there is a risk of massive damage to the economy.”