The German seaports are demanding considerably larger investments from the new federal government in the expansion of the German rail network – in the interests of climate protection and the reliability of the currently extremely disturbed supply chains. “If more traffic is to be on the rails, then we also need more rail,” says Frank Dreeke, President of the Central Association of German Seaport Companies (ZDS). Not only is there a need for better timing of freight traffic by rail, new routes also have to be built.
Shifting freight transport from trucks to rail is an important element in the fight against climate change: the more goods that reach their destination on trains running on green electricity instead of diesel-powered trucks, the less greenhouse gas is produced. In addition, a functioning hinterland connection is an important prerequisite for ensuring that the goods reach the recipient as punctually as possible.
In addition to reliability, the CO2 balance in the transport chain is likely to be an increasingly important criterion for customers in the logistics industry in the future. The port industry is encouraged by the Allianz pro Schiene association: “The seaports’ demand for higher investments in rail infrastructure is only too justified,” says its managing director Dirk Flege. “For decades the rail network has shrunk – there was no other mode of transport, especially not with the road infrastructure.”
According to calculations by Allianz pro Schiene, the rail network shrank by almost 15 percent between 1995 and 2019. At the same time, however, passenger traffic grew by 41 percent and freight traffic by as much as 83 percent. “The crowd on the rail network is getting bigger and bigger.” For ZDS presidium member Sebastian Jürgens it is therefore clear: “We really have to build infrastructure, throughout Germany.” Otherwise the German ports, which are already under international competitive pressure, could face competitive disadvantages.