According to the federal government, Deutsche Bahn will need around 45 billion euros to cover its investment needs up to 2027. However, the plans of the FDP Minister of Transport are still too vague for the traffic light partner SPD.
The SPD demands more clarity from the Federal Minister of Transport, Volker Wissing (FDP), in the planned railway reform. SPD parliamentary group deputy Detlef Müller said that Wissing had to finally submit concrete proposals for the establishment of a public welfare-oriented infrastructure division within Deutsche Bahn AG so that this would be successful by the beginning of January.
“There is still a lack of clarity about how the ministry wants to set up the financing and decision-making structures of society in such a way that the expansion and repair of the rail network finally gain momentum,” said Müller of the German Press Agency.
In circles at the Ministry of Transport, it was said that DB Netz AG and DB Station und Service AG were to be merged into a new infrastructure company on January 1, 2024. The income from this new company is to be used for infrastructure.
Müller said that a commission had put substantial ideas on the table to finance the infrastructure. “We Social Democrats are ready to convert as much of this into law as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance must not hesitate any longer so that things can finally get moving.”
The heads of the traffic light coalition had determined at the end of March that Deutsche Bahn needed around 45 billion euros to cover the investment requirements by 2027. This need for investment should be covered “as far as financially feasible”, among other things through the use of proportionate income from the CO2 surcharge of the truck toll.
However, this income alone will not be sufficient to cover the investment needs. Difficult budget negotiations are currently underway in the coalition.
Source: Stern
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