Rail convoys delivering coal and oil through Germany will now have priority over passenger trains, to guarantee energy supplies to the country plunged into uncertainty by cuts in Russian gas deliveries, decided on Wednesday the government.
"
To guarantee supply, energy transport will temporarily have priority on the rails
", announced the Ministry of the Economy after the Council of Ministers.
“
It is not an easy decision to make, because it means, in the event of tension, that other trains will have to wait
”, admitted for his part the Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing.
But "
rail is already in full use, so if additional energy transport is needed, we need to prioritize
it," he added.
Concretely, the rail network manager DB Netz will have to "
adapt the conditions of use of the rail network to prioritize the transport of oil and coal
", according to the government's decision.
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In the wake of the war in Ukraine, Russia has reduced its deliveries of Russian gas to Germany by 80% since the spring, plunging the country into uncertainty before winter.
To ensure the energy supply of its businesses and citizens, the government has notably decided to make increased use of fossil fuels, particularly coal.
“
We want to free ourselves as quickly as possible from the grip of Russian energy imports
,” said Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Wednesday.
Result: the need to transport these raw materials to power plants explodes.
However, the low level of water in the rivers of the country, which has experienced a severe drought in recent months, considerably slows down river transport, overloading the rail network.
Rail delivery problems are already evident.
Thus the Heyden 4 coal-fired power plant, in the west of the country, which the energy company Uniper will relaunch next Monday, will have to operate in a “
limited
” way for lack of sufficient deliveries, the group announced.