A significant shortfall in funding is now threatening the planned expansion of Germany’s rail network during the current legislative period, despite the establishment of a dedicated infrastructure fund. This emerged from a written response from the Federal Ministry of Transport to inquiries by the Green Party, reported by the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
According to the response, the federal government will allocate insufficient funds to Deutsche Bahn between 2027 and 2029 to implement all “ready-to-build” projects outlined in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan. The deficits are projected at approximately €300 million in 2027, €538 million in 2028 and a substantial €1.44 billion in 2029.
Matthias Gastel, parliamentary spokesperson for transport policy for the Green Party, criticized Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU), alleging that investment funds previously earmarked for rail in the transport budget have been redirected into the infrastructure fund. This, Gastel argues, undermines the fundamental principle that investments within the special fund should be supplementary and not simply a reallocation of existing resources. The transfer of funds initially allocated for rail network maintenance to the special fund, he claims, is being used to finance “expensive election promises for the CSU.
This scarcity of new construction funding now places several high-profile rail projects at risk. These projects include the potential commencement of construction for the new ICE high-speed line connecting Mannheim and Frankfurt, expansion of the Franken-Sachsen-Magistrale (Nuremberg-Dresden), sections between Karlsruhe and Basel, the Paffensteig Tunnel in Stuttgart and the expansion of the strategically important East Corridor for freight transport from the Port of Hamburg to Bavaria.
Sources within the Green Party and state governments indicate that no financing agreements have been established for any of these projects and the budget lacks the required authorization for future commitments. Consequently, numerous projects are now facing the prospect of being indefinitely delayed or abandoned.
