What status are transport projects in Germany – and how much do they cost? The Greens now want to know this in more detail from Transport Minister Wissing.
The Greens have called on Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) to take an “honest inventory of transport projects”. “Especially in the road sector, there is a long list of roughly, incompletely planned and beautifully calculated projects whose benefits and costs must be recalculated,” said Green Party budget politician Paula Piechotta to the dpa. “Strengthening climate-friendly modes of transport must be a top priority, especially in times of tight budgets.”
Michael Müller-Görnert, transport policy spokesman for the German Transport Club, told the dpa that the Ministry of Transport must finally present the long-overdue review of the requirements plans for the federal highways, railways and waterways and reassess the costs of the individual plans. “Many projects have been well calculated in the past.”
According to a decision by the budget committee, the ministry must submit an updated benefit-cost calculation by the end of the current year for projects in the so-called five-year planning until 2029 for roads, rail and waterways, which are to be started in 2025.
Müller-Görnert: Lots of planning from the last millennium
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transport announced that her institution intended to carry out a review of the benefit-cost calculations for the new transport infrastructure projects that are expected to begin by 2029 according to the new five-year plan, based on updated assessment principles. “It is not yet clear which projects these will be. The decisive factor here is how far the planning stage of a project has already progressed.”
Müller-Görnert said that the expansion and new construction plans for motorways and federal highways in particular should be examined. Many plans date back to the last millennium, are no longer up-to-date and simply cannot be financed given the billion-dollar hole in the federal budget. The ministry and the Bundestag would have to cancel unnecessary and expensive highway projects, such as the extension of the A100 in Berlin. “The money saved is urgently needed for the renovation, maintenance and expansion of environmentally friendly rail.”
Source: Stern
