Deutsche Bahn lacks money for route expansion despite billions in special fund

The federal government is providing billions of dollars through the special fund for investments in rail infrastructure, yet Deutsche Bahn lacks the money for planned new construction projects. This is according to a response from the Federal Ministry of Transport published on Friday in response to a query from the Green Party. Green Party transport politician Matthias Gastel blamed this on shifts from the regular budget to the special fund.

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According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, these are railway projects that will be ready for construction in the coming years as part of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan. Despite special funds, a shortfall of €300 million will be needed to build all the planned routes in 2027, €538 million in 2028, and €1.44 billion in 2029.

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The Tagesspiegel newspaper was the first to report on this. According to the newspaper, the lack of funding jeopardizes prestigious rail projects such as the new ICE line between Mannheim and Frankfurt, the expansion of the Franconia-Saxony line between Nuremberg and Dresden, and the expansion of the eastern corridor from the Port of Hamburg to Bavaria, which is important for freight trains.

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"Despite the special fund, new construction and expansion of rail is being hampered," explained Green Party politician Gastel. He accused Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) of shifting regular expenditures from the budget to the special fund. Among other things, funds for the maintenance of rail infrastructure are to be paid from the investment fund in the coming years.

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Schnieder is thus ignoring the requirement "that investments in the special fund must be made additionally," criticized Gastel. "Instead, expensive campaign promises for the CSU are being financed." The Green Party member calls this a "breach of promise" and points to his party's approval of the suspension of the debt brake in order to establish the debt-financed special fund: "We made this possible for the government with the special fund."