Why pasta could become more expensive because of Deutsche Bahn
Created: 06/28/2022, 14:06
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
The rail infrastructure in Germany is apparently overloaded - in freight transport, several customers have had their transport volumes reduced or canceled.
(Archive image) © Arnulf Hettrich/Imago
The rail infrastructure in Germany is apparently overloaded - in freight transport, several customers have had their transport volumes reduced or canceled.
This could also have consequences for consumers.
Mannheim – Deutsche Bahn (DB) has often made the headlines this month – mainly because of the nine-euro ticket and canceled or overcrowded passenger trains.
In doing so, the problems in freight transport are neglected - although these can also have consequences for consumers.
Transport failure in rail traffic hits the Mühlen Group - and pasta manufacturer
According to a report by Die
Welt
, these can be a reason why pasta is becoming more expensive in Germany.
As a result, DB Cargo has terminated its cooperation with the Goodmills mill group in Mannheim.
"It is with great regret that we have to inform you that due to the current production situation, we can no longer take on any further grain transport for you, either as a special train or as part of individual wagon traffic," says the email from DB Cargo to the company, which
is available to the
world
.
Now 5,000 tons of durum wheat that have already been contracted are stored in France and urgently need to be picked up.
Goodmills is now looking at trucks and canal boats - but these can't carry as many tons as a freight train.
For comparison: a train can take between 1500 and 1800 tons of durum wheat per trip, but a canal ship only 700 - and a truck manages just 25 tons.
"The transport will be significantly more expensive," says Markus Schüler, manager of the southern region of Goodmills Germany, to the newspaper.
They would have to pass these costs on to their customers - and that includes all the large pasta manufacturers in Germany.
And they will probably in turn pass the costs on to consumers and demand higher prices for pasta.
DB Cargo: Transport failure for several customers - "That annoys us the most"
However, DB Cargo itself does not have to pay for the failure – the general terms and conditions exclude this.
The Deutsche Bahn company told Die
Welt
that transport volumes were reduced or canceled for several customers.
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"Sales are currently trying to find individual solutions," says a DB Cargo spokesman for the newspaper.
"That annoys us the most.
Because we also want to earn money.” The incident also shows how overloaded the rail infrastructure in Germany is.
investment would be required.
According to the railway and transport union EVG, however, rail freight transport in the federal budget for 2022 has been massively reduced.
That said the deputy EVG chairman Martin Burkert on the fringes of the DB Cargo supervisory board meeting.