Rail infrastructure: Hardly any new and electrified railway lines next year

In the German rail network, only around 66 kilometers of tracks will be equipped with overhead electric lines in the coming year. This emerges from a response from the Federal Ministry of Transport to a parliamentary question from the Left, which was submitted to the German Press Agency. This means that in 2025 the federal government and the railways will remain well short of the necessary overhead line expansion to achieve their own goals.

If there is no electricity on a route, the trains there usually run on climate-damaging diesel engines. The federal government wants to supply around 75 percent of the rail network with traction current by 2030. The proportion is currently around 60 percent. Because particularly busy routes usually have overhead lines, the proportion of rail transport that is electrically powered is significantly higher at 90 percent.

Around 600 kilometers per year would be necessary

In order to achieve the government’s goal, according to calculations by the pro-rail alliance Allianz and the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), around 600 additional kilometers of track would have to be provided with electrical cables per year. In the past 13 years, an average of only around 80 kilometers per year has been added.

“Electrification not only makes the railway more environmentally friendly, it also increases capacity and thus directly benefits rail customers,” said Left MP Victor Perli. “But the numbers confirm once again that the traffic lights have not gone beyond nice words when it comes to rail electrification.” The coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP, which has now collapsed, has fallen dramatically short of its goal. The aim now is to quickly secure the financial resources for the planned electrification in the coming year.

The focus is currently not on new construction and expansion

The expansion of the rail network is progressing similarly slowly. According to the ministry’s response, the track network is expected to grow by just 71 kilometers next year. However, the federal government and the railways have been emphasizing for a long time that their current focus is primarily on renovating and modernizing the existing network rather than expanding it.

Among other things, the railway wants to comprehensively renovate more than 40 busy rail corridors by 2030. As a result, rail traffic should run much more reliably again. In October, more than one in three long-distance trains were again delayed. By 2027, the railway is aiming for around 75 percent punctuality in long-distance transport.