As Germany is planning for much-needed rail infrastructure renovations, points of contention arise. While renovations are necessary for the outdated network, significant infrastructure downtime could lead to serious consequences for the rail freight industry. Especially the Passau corridor closure is causing sweaty palms. Germany is planning to renew its rail infrastructure network. In an interview…
Category: Die Güterbahnen
Rail industry lambasts DB’s largest ever track price increase programme
Deutsche Bahn’s intention to raise rail route prices in Germany has been faced with strong criticism. The planned increase would take effect from next year. It would be the largest price increase ever. Industry representatives like the German private rail association Die Güterbahnen have strongly denounced the plans. The German Bundesnetzagentur has approved the application…
‘Dark clouds’ gather over German rail renovation plan
German rail freight association Die Güterbahnen sees ‘dark clouds’ in the rail renovation plan proposed by DB and the federal government. The association identifies a number of issues in the June 2022 plan that it expects to hinder rail traffic disproportionately. The renovation plan aims to renovate 40 rail corridors that total over 4,000 kilometres […]
Recovery and stagnation: German rail survey reveals mixed results
The German rail sector fully recovered from the pandemic in 2022. According to an annual German market survey, German rail freight exceeded its pre-pandemic performance levels by 10 per cent. However, performance also stagnated in the second half of the year. According to an annual survey by the Bundesnetzagentur on the performance of the rail […]
‘Germany is not short in money to keep financing railway projects’
Despite the significant budget cuts expected for the 2024-2027 period, Peter Westenberger, the managing director of the industry association Die Güternbahnen, is convinced that there are still enough funds to continue carrying out critical railway expansion and upgrade works in Germany. “There is no shortage of money in Germany,” he said, underlying that a Swiss […]
Germany: long-term infrastructure projects also affected by budget cuts
The German Federal Government has officially approved the reduced transport budget for 2024. After some amendments in the sums to be cut and the sectors they will affect, the German parliament greenlit it. In addition to reduced financial support for the current year, the German rail sector will also be affected by cuts in long-term […]
‘Train drivers, sound your horns’, says German rail freight association
Tomorrow, Wednesday 17 January, will be a loud lunch in Berlin. At least 13 freight train drivers will sound their horns in protest to the cuts expected from the 2024 German federal budget. The proposal came from the rail freight association Die Güterbahnen. The symphony will last five minutes, starting at 11:55 am until midday. […]