The Federal Audit Office has issued sharp criticism regarding the rail network’s corridor renovations. In a report presented to the Budget Committee of the Bundestag, as reported by Politico, the audit office accuses the Federal Ministry of Transport, along with the rail infrastructure division DB InfraGO, of a “fundamental misunderstanding of the budgetary legal requirements for economic evidence and success monitoring” in documenting corridor renovations. The existing cost-benefit analyses are noted to contain “significant deficiencies.”
The auditors insist that the Ministry must individually prove the cost-effectiveness of every corridor renovation and control its subsequent success. Currently, the Ministry’s economic assessments rely on underlying assumptions that “no longer match actual developments.” For example, modeling still utilizes criteria such as an 80 percent reduction in infrastructure-related disruptions or up to ten years of construction freedom, criteria which are rarely timely today. By proceeding this way, the Ministry has effectively allowed for the possibility that federal funds might be used inefficiently.
In response to the critique, the Ministry of Transport mentioned the LV InfraGO performance agreement, stating that they intend to include “binding provisions” within it. Furthermore, they indicated that in the future, they will pay “closer attention to target achievement and economic viability.”
