As of: March 12, 2024, 5:34 p.m
By: Andreas Schmid
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Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) is having renovations: By 2030, 40 busy sections of route in Germany will be renovated.
© IPPEN MEDIA/Alexander Welscher/Henning Kaiser/picture alliance/dpa (montage)
The railway is setting the course for construction site chaos.
More than 4000 kilometers of tracks are generalized.
There is no alternative to this - but it is still bad news for train passengers.
Anyone who takes the train in Germany needs a lot of patience.
And that regardless of any strikes.
In 2023, Deutsche Bahn trains were more unpunctual than ever before.
Only every third long-distance train reached its destination on time.
According to Deutsche Bahn, this is mainly due to the many construction sites.
“Around 75 percent of long-distance trains were slowed down at the end of the year while traveling through at least one construction site,” said a company spokesman at the beginning of the year.
The bad news: The construction sites are not getting any less – on the contrary.
Major railway construction site: route closures for months until 2030
By 2040, 40 busy sections of the route are to be renewed.
This means that more than 4,000 kilometers will be temporarily closed.
It starts with the Riedbahn between Mannheim and Frankfurt.
The route used by many commuters is closed from mid-July to mid-December.
The result: Some train stations cannot be reached and trains are rerouted.
The Munich – Hamburg connection, for example, is rerouted via Mainz and takes 40 minutes longer.
The connection from Munich to Cologne takes an additional 30 minutes.
The Riedbahn is just the beginning of a years-long construction site odyssey.
The Berlin – Hamburg route will continue in 2025.
278 kilometers will then not be passable for several months.
Trains are rerouted via Lower Saxony or Saxony-Anhalt and then take 45 to 105 minutes longer.
Until 2030, not a year will go by without a major construction site (see graphic).
Budget ruling puts the brakes on rail plans: “The route expansion is falling behind”
Does that have to be all?
“Yes, there is no alternative to renovation,” says rail expert Thomas Gläßer.
He is a director at the company Atreus and advises companies on large infrastructure projects, such as transport.
“The core task of every infrastructure operator is the modernization and maintenance of their networks.
It’s no different at Deutsche Bahn.”
Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) also sees it that way.
There is “no way around the general renovation” if we want to have more punctual trains again,” he said in December.
According to the coalition agreement, the federal government actually wants to “expand the route network”.
But currently she is focusing more on renovation than on expanding the route: “This was born out of necessity to a certain extent,” says Gläßer.
“The route expansion is falling behind because politicians simply no longer have the money for it after the budget ruling from Karlsruhe.”
The budget verdict as a brake on the transport transition?
Funds were already tight beforehand, but the current traffic light savings plan will of course not help the German route network.
“We don’t have enough money for network expansion and not enough money for renovation,” says Gläßer.
“This means that not all of these planned 40 projects may even be implemented.”
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General renovation of the railway: “Renovation spiral from which we may never get out”
4,300 kilometers are now being renovated.
This corresponds to around 15 percent of the entire German rail network.
What is the condition of the remaining tracks?
“They are not significantly better and some are in a dilapidated condition,” says Gläßer.
“Deutsche Bahn is carrying a backlog of investments from the past.”
What does this mean for train drivers?
Gläßer speaks of “significant restrictions” that made traveling more difficult.
“And not just selectively, such as as part of the renovation and digitalization on the Munich – Stuttgart route, but across the board until 2030.” There are diversions due to route closures.
The train takes longer due to diversions.
In addition, the load on the other routes is higher, which in turn leads to signs of wear and tear and further renovations.
“That means the railway is pushing ahead with an avalanche of renewal,” says Gläßer.
“A restructuring spiral that we may never be able to get out of.”
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