In order to fundamentally modernize the German rail network, 89 billion euros would have to be spent. This emerges from a report to the supervisory board of Deutsche Bahn, from which NDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung quote. 26 percent of all points on the railway are in poor, poor or unsatisfactory condition, as are 11 percent of all bridges, 22 percent of the overhead lines, 23 percent of the tracks, 42 percent of all level crossings and 48 percent of all signal boxes.
In the “network status report”, the more than 33,000-kilometer-long railway network with all bridges, tunnels, tracks, level crossings, signal boxes and overhead lines was rated for the first time in a rating system from one to five, writes the NDR. Grade three means that the facilities are in “moderate” condition and have “moderate impairments”. Grade four stands for “poor”, i.e. “the system has significant impairments”. Grade five for “poor” means that the respective system is “inadequate”, the service life has been exceeded or can impair operation.
Thousands of points, bridges and signal boxes were criticized
In absolute numbers, 30,217 points are in a mediocre or even worse condition, the same applies to 9570 bridges and 3270 signal boxes, i.e. more than half of the signal boxes. They are a major cause of delayed trains. The 3500 kilometers of railway lines, on which a particularly large number of people and goods are transported, are in an even worse condition than the rest of the railway lines. Overall, the German rail network is in a much worse condition than that in Switzerland and Austria.
“Some parts of the German rail network are too old, too prone to disruption and offer too little capacity,” writes Philipp Nagl, head of DB Netz AG, in the network status report. In addition, there would be many construction sites “especially on the heavily used corridors”. No time should be wasted when rehabilitating the tracks, switches, signal boxes and bridges. Above the previously estimated 89 billion euros, it could become even more expensive.
Complaint from the Federal Court of Auditors
The Federal Court of Auditors also pointed out that the rail infrastructure is outdated. In 2022, more than every third long-distance train was delayed. In the railway-related business areas, earnings are declining or massive losses are being incurred. Deutsche Bahn’s mountain of debt has been growing by 5 million euros every day since 2016 to more than 30 billion euros. The federal government has aggravated the situation through its own omissions, for example by not clearly defining the railway policy goals.
According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Federal Ministry of Transport is familiar with the network status report that 86 billion euros are planned for maintenance and renovation of the rail network by 2029. In railway circles, however, significantly more money is considered necessary to modernize the rail network.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing made the rail network a top priority last year. The heavily used 3500 kilometers of track are to be renovated as a priority, with all the necessary trades bundled. This will result in route closures in the coming years.
(anw)
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