Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) likes to celebrate his rail agenda. The Restructuring of the railway company should be advanced and the infrastructure should be renewed with a focus on the common good. The old railway boss was pushed to the sidelines and an assertive manager, Evelyn Palla, was promoted to this position. But the image of a transport minister willing to restructure is now crumbling considerably. “Schnieder is completely unambitious,” says Dirk Flege, head of the Allianz pro Schiene industry association. And he is not alone in this assessment.
Hof Mayor Eva Döhla, for example, might also think so after she had to take note of a letter from State Secretary Steffen Meyer from the Federal Ministry of Finance. She turned there because the federal government has still not released any funds for the electrification of the Hof-Marktredwitz railway line, which is important for the region.
Apparently the Ministry of Transport (BMV) wanted to pass the buck to the finance department. “This information from the BMV is misleading in that no release of funds was requested from them,” writes Meyer to the Mayor. She should contact the BMV again. As a rule, his ministry releases requested funds for important projects.
Despite special assets and climate funds, there is not enough money for important expansion projects. The coalition agreement also states: “Electrification is climate protection: We will accelerate it.” Currently, just over 60 percent of the railway network is equipped with overhead lines. And a look at the federal government’s response to a request from the Greens about Bavarian routes shows little commitment.
Billions have been made available for the motorway, but there is still a lack of money for rail
Matthias Gastel, Alliance 90/The Greens
In recent years, not a single kilometer of rail has been electrified there. The BMV said there was no list of priorities: “The projects will be implemented successively across the various service phases within the framework of the availability of budget funds.”
The green rail expert Matthias Gastel points to the 500 billion euro special fund for investments: “Billions were made available for the motorway,” criticizes the Bundestag member, “the rail is still lacking the money.” Both the Chancellor and Schnieder promised to implement all projects ready for construction. But there can be no question of that. According to Gastel, there is a lack of money for five projects that are ready for construction, including the long-planned expansion of the Wallauer Spange, the central-Germany connection from Weimar to Gößnitz and environmental protection measures at the Mannheim junction.
Infrastructure plan not until 2027
The federal government actually wanted to eliminate key weak points in rail investments. A so-called infraplan has been announced, which determines the development of the infrastructure. Based on the goal of a Germany cycle, the expansion of the rail network is to be planned. To this end, an infrastructure fund is intended to secure the financing of the projects over several years. So far there aren’t even key points for this. The infrastructure plan is not due to arrive until 2027, and the fund a year later.
Flege sees a well-made infrastructure plan as the prerequisite for a better railway. “The potential of rail transport for citizens, the economy and the climate is enormous,” he says, “yet we keep hearing from the federal government that there is not enough money to expand and build new rail.”
This would finally come with it more punctuality and reliability into the system. Flege refers to the traffic statistics. According to this, passenger traffic by rail has increased by 42 percent since 2005, while car traffic remained largely stable and air traffic even lost almost half of its traffic performance.
When people talk about inadequate infrastructure, the railway is usually the target of critics. The role of the federal government is less recognized. It is up to the owner to control the maintenance and expansion of the rail network. That’s why a steering group in the BMV should monitor the railway’s renovation and infrastructure strategy. But the Federal Audit Office is not the only one to complain that the federal government is not adequately carrying out this control task. And the replacement of the supervisory board with former railway executives does not indicate a stricter course.
Schnieder doesn’t want to hear about such criticism. He recently celebrated financing agreements worth 2.5 billion euros for expansion projects such as the Pfaffenberg Tunnel in Baden-Württemberg or noise protection measures on the outskirts of Berlin. “We continue to invest heavily in this Modernization and expansion of the railways“, said the minister. However, given the urgently needed large-scale projects, the plans that have now been agreed are manageable.