Much promised, little delivered: Deutsche Bahn did not make a good impression during the European Football Championship. The transport minister has clear words to say about it – and promises improvement.
According to Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), Deutsche Bahn has taken on too much during the European Football Championship. “What happened to some of the fans does not meet Germany’s standards and does not meet the standards I have for our transport infrastructure,” he told the “Welt am Sonntag” newspaper. “With the announcement that it would provide 10,000 additional seats on trains every day during the European Championship, DB has overreached itself.” The intention behind this was certainly good. However, the network cannot cope with this additional capacity in its current state.
Deutsche Bahn board speaks of bad luck
The frequent heavy rain in the first weeks of the tournament made the situation even worse. “The network is not designed for such extreme weather conditions because the drainage systems cannot absorb these masses of water,” said Wissing.
Berthold Huber, head of Deutsche Bahn’s infrastructure department, defended his own company. “We really did everything we could. We postponed and cancelled all construction sites that were not necessary in order to at least have as little impact on the infrastructure as possible,” he said. But sometimes bad luck is followed by bad luck. “We then had the flood, which more or less washed away a dam, especially between Würzburg and Nuremberg.” However, that does not change the fact that Deutsche Bahn has to address structural reasons such as renewing the infrastructure.
Improvements are to come
The minister announced improvements. This Monday, the renovation of the so-called Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim begins, one of 41 heavily frequented corridors that are to be completely renovated in the coming years. The routes will be completely closed for months for the construction work. Passengers will therefore initially face additional stress. But as soon as the Riedbahn is finished, passengers will notice improvements in the entire rail traffic, emphasizes Wissing.
The construction industry, however, expressed doubts as to whether all routes can really be modernized by 2031. “Companies are still unable to make realistic capacity plans because politicians and DB are not in agreement,” said Tim-Oliver Müller, General Manager of the German Construction Industry Association, to “Welt am Sonntag”. “I am therefore now very certain that not all of the 41 corridor renovations currently planned will be completed by 2031.” It would make sense to extend the entire project over time.
Source: Stern
