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A good week has passed since the flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
It is now clear: the extent of the storm damage is also historic for Deutsche Bahn.
Volker Hentschel, Board Member Deutsche Bahn:
“In this dimension our infrastructure has never been so destroyed in one fell swoop. We are really facing a tremendous show of strength here. "
The clean-up work is in full swing, also at Deutsche Bahn.
By the end of the year, the group wants to have repaired the greatest damage.
Only then will traffic be largely normal again.
In some regions, however, it could take much longer.
Volker Hentschel, Board Member Deutsche Bahn:
"According to an initial assessment, and it is and must be rough at this point in time, the masses of water in our networks, in our infrastructure, have caused damage to the network and train stations of around 1.3 billion euros."
According to the railway, 600 kilometers of tracks are affected.
In addition, 50 bridges, several stations, 180 level crossings, 40 signal boxes and more than 1000 catenary and signal masts.
Entire rail connections have to be rebuilt in NRW.
There are currently around 2,000 railroad employees working across Germany to restore the infrastructure.
The question arises of who will pay for the damage.
According to the railway, there are talks about funding with the federal government.
And the group checks to what extent the damage is insured.
Volker Hentschel, Board Member Deutsche Bahn:
"But we are pretty sure that we have no insurance coverage for the vast majority of the damage, and certainly not in the amount."
The question of insurance also preoccupies many of those affected in the flood regions. The General Association of the German Insurance Industry assumes that in all of Germany a corresponding natural hazard insurance has been taken out for less than half of the buildings.