GERMANY’s infrastructure manager DB InfraGO (DB IG) was formally launched at an official ceremony on January 22. The organisation, which will oversee all rail infrastructure improvement projects in Germany, had already started work on January 1.
DB IG was formed from the merger, announced last September, of two former German Rail (DB) businesses: DB Station & Service and DB Network. DB IG is wholly owned by DB and its prime objective is to meet the coalition government’s objective of improving the condition and resilience of railway infrastructure.
One of the first documents produced by DB IG, published earlier this month, was the annual review of the condition of Germany’s rail network, which found that it had deteriorated in 2022 compared to the previous year.
At DB IG’s launch event in Berlin the company said that its aim is to sustainably improve the quality, capacity and stability of railway operations and create the conditions for implementing federal transport and climate policy goals.
This year DB IG says that it will start on the most comprehensive renovation and modernisation programme of track and stations ever undertaken on the German rail network. Specific commitments include:
renewing over 4000km of poor-quality track across 40 high-performance corridors
gradual modernisation of around 25,000km of the 33,000km German rail network
development of (an unspecified number of) Germany’s 5400 stations into mobility hubs and meeting places for cities and communities, and
rapidly improving the capacity and performance of the existing network, including provision of more passing loops and resignalling to reduce train headways, plus the introduction of ETCS on many lines by 2030, the exact number unspecified.
“We are experiencing the biggest turning point for railways in Germany since the rail reform of the 1990s,” says Dr Richard Lutz, DB CEO. “The rail infrastructure is too old, too prone to failure and in many places working beyond its design limits. In order to reverse this downward trend, we are working with the federal government to renew both the rail network and railway stations.”
“I am happy and grateful for the support of politicians and the close solidarity between the federal government, DB, the rail industry and the construction industry. Because this mammoth task will only succeed by all of us working together.”
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