The condition of the German infrastructure has deteriorated again in recent years. More road and rail sections are in need of renovation. And this despite the fact that the “renovation backlog” problem is not a new one.
Things are not going well for Germany’s highways and rail network. Despite announced comprehensive renovation programs, their condition has deteriorated further in recent years. This was the response from the Federal Ministry of Transport to a request from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
In its response, the ministry referred to the latest condition survey for roads in 2021/22, as the Germany editorial network reported. The result for the motorways: 7,112 kilometers are classified as requiring renovation. This means that the need for repairs has once again increased significantly compared to the previous condition recording for the years 2017/18 – by exactly 1,315 kilometers.
According to the ministry, hardly anything has changed when it comes to motorway bridges. Around 8,000 of them are still classified as requiring renovation. Even if 510 so-called modernization measures were completed between 2021 and 2023.
The “renovation backlog” on motorway bridges is not a new problem. To address this, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing called a “bridge summit” in 2022. At that time, Germany was behind in repairing at least 4,000 bridges, according to the FDP politician himself. At that time, his ministry said that a total of more than 10,000 motorway and federal road bridges nationwide needed to be modernized.
No progress on the ailing rail network
According to the report from the editorial network Germany, the view of the German rail network is hardly better. The scope of the railway lines to be renovated increased again between 2021 and 2023 and rose from 17,529 to 17,636 kilometers. The number of railway bridges that have to be replaced by a new building also increased from 1,089 to 1,160 during this period.
Deutsche Bahn has set itself high goals when it comes to renovation. At the end of last year, the group announced that Germany’s rails should become a “high-performance network” by 2030. The railway wants to renew a total of 40 route sections by 2030, covering a good 4,000 kilometers of route. A further 4,000 kilometers are to be improved through “small and medium-sized measures”. Estimated cost: at least 45 billion euros.
According to Deutsche Bahn, the starting signal for the major renovation program was given at the beginning of this year. A total of 2,000 kilometers of tracks, 2,000 switches and numerous train stations and bridges are to be renewed in 2024 alone – for around 16.4 billion euros.
“A huge renovation case”
In the eyes of BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht, the figures from the latest status survey show that the German transport infrastructure is “a huge need for renovation”. “Whether rails, bridges or roads: the numbers are getting worse rather than better. The pace of renovation is not enough to stop the decline,” she warned.
The traffic light government has allowed the situation to deteriorate even further over the past two years. But Wagenknecht sees the main blame not on the incumbent federal government, but on the Union. “The CDU and CSU are the main responsible for the fact that roads, bridges and railways have been run down,” criticized the politician.