If the situation is lost, it is worth taking a look from above, preferably from high above.

What would a Mars government do if they wanted to build a railroad on the Red Planet?

This question was recently asked by the managing director of the NEE rail freight association, Peter Westenberger.

His answer: Hardly what the Earthlings do, especially the Germans - namely found a joint company for rail infrastructure and rail operations.

"But we are not on Mars and we have to make progress here and now on a dysfunctional structure," said Westenberger's earthly conclusion.

Thiemo Heeg

Editor in business.

  • Follow I follow

Others would vehemently deny that the German railway system is a "dysfunctional structure". Above all the Deutsche Bahn itself, the rail union EVG and the future Chancellor Party SPD. Why change something that has been tried and tested for decades is their credo: namely DB as a so-called integrated group that is responsible for the operation of its tens of thousands of trains as well as for a more than 33,000 kilometer long rail network in this country. The coalition partners Greens and FDP are of a different opinion. The camp of critics and reform proponents also includes a colorful community of interests, which ranges from the train drivers' union GDL to consumer protection agencies and the main association of the German construction industry to DB competitors in freight and passenger transport.

For years, the topic of railway structure with the stimulus term “separation of network and operation” was not an issue for politics.

In the grand coalition, neither the Social Democrats nor the representatives of the Union had an increased interest in it.

Especially since one of your friends, Ronald Pofalla, previously headed Angela Merkel's chancellery and today, as the person primarily responsible for infrastructure, occupies a powerful position on the railway board.

With the new governing parties, the Greens and the FDP, proponents can now smell the morning breeze.

They see new opportunities for a concept they call Rail Reform 2.

The Federal Railroad on the siding

The “first” rail reform dates back to the 1990s. With it, the Deutsche Bundesbahn was sidelined in 1994 in favor of Deutsche Bahn AG - even if the state remained 100 percent owner of the "private company". At the time, the focus was on two goals: more rail traffic and sustainable relief for the federal budget. The economic situation was serious: Between 1950 and 1990, the Bundesbahn's market share in passenger transport fell to a sixth and in freight transport to less than half, debt reached a record level, and the investment backlog grew longer. One of the main reasons for the desolate situation of the state railways was the "integration into the state administrative organization": This prevented successful entrepreneurial activity.

20 years later, the “entrepreneurial” railway, which did not go public but expanded strongly internationally, drew a positive conclusion from the development: “The railway reform is a great success”, according to an analysis from 2014. Even a “renaissance of rail traffic in Germany ”was the talk of the town. The assessment of the President of the Federal Audit Office, Kay Scheller, is completely different. In 2019, he issued a miserable certificate to those involved: "After 25 years one must now state that the federal government and DB AG have missed both goals of the rail reform." Neither has more traffic come from other modes of transport since the reform, nor is the federal budget been relieved. "It's the highest railway - for the federal government," said Scheller in summary. He must position himself clearly - also to"Which could be the best organizational model for DB AG".