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Stuttgart 21 rail project: focus on the core network
Photo: Thomas Kienzle / AFP
The criticism of the planned savings at the railway continues: associations are calling for reliable long-term financing of modernization projects. “The expansion of the rail network according to the budget situation and the mood of the day must be stopped,” said the head of Allianz Pro Schiene, Dirk Flege, to the “Tagesspiegel”. Because of the budget crisis, the railway also has less money available and wants to concentrate first on renovating the network instead of building new and expanding routes.
For greater planning security, Flege suggested a multi-year fund for rail expansion. Other rail associations such as Pro Bahn and the freight railways also advocate for this. Flege spoke out in favor of a financially backed expansion plan for at least five years.
The associations are also calling for spending in the transport budget to be re-prioritized. “We propose a reallocation of funds from road construction,” demands Detlef Neuß, chairman of the Pro Bahn passenger association. Existing money should therefore be used for rail instead of roads.
The rail network can no longer cope with the growth, warned the freight railway association. According to the announcement, managing director Peter Westenberger said that the new federal budget would provide 1.7 billion euros for new construction and expansion. »To put it bluntly, that's almost nothing in Germany. For comparison: Austria alone, which is four times smaller, is expanding its rail network with 2.2 billion euros per year.
On Friday, SPIEGEL revealed an internal list of the rail infrastructure division “InfraGO”. The document reveals that the state-owned company has to postpone numerous expansion and new construction projects. After the Karlsruhe ruling on the climate and transformation fund, the railway is only left with around 30 of the 45 billion euros originally promised. According to SPIEGEL information, they should primarily flow into the inventory.
Traffic light politicians now emphasized that it was only a matter of prioritizing over time. The focus is on bringing the core network into a good and resilient condition. “But that doesn’t mean that expansion and new construction projects will be eliminated,” said SPD parliamentary group deputy leader Detlef Müller. The FDP transport politician Valentin Abel said: “Investments in the railways remain at record levels.”
Deutsche Bahn also made it clear: "There are no plans to cancel individual projects." Due to the difficult budget situation at the end of last year, it was necessary to review the timing of the projects at short notice, the company announced in Berlin. "Projects that are already under construction will continue unchanged." For all other projects, planning will continue in order to avoid delays until the financing has been fully clarified.
On Monday, the chairman of the transport committee, Udo Schiefner (SPD), wrote an incendiary letter to railway boss Richard Lutz and infrastructure director Berthold Huber. The news of the austerity plans "shocked him badly - especially after the budget week that had just ended in the German Bundestag and the resolutions passed there," said Schiefner.
mik/dpa AFX