DVF and FREIGHT RAILWAYS welcome special fund in principle

DVF President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Raimund Klinkner welcomes the constitutional amendment passed yesterday, which establishes a special fund for infrastructure investments with a volume of 500 billion euros over 12 years, but also calls for long-term financing reforms.

The Bundestag decided yesterday on a constitutional amendment that is supposed to provide an additional 500 billion euros for infrastructure investments by the federal government, states, and municipalities. The aging and shrinking rail network is also expected to benefit from this.

(Berlin) DVF President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Raimund Klinkner: “Fortunately, the planned special fund for infrastructures was brought on its way to the Bundesrat by the Bundestag today with the necessary two-thirds majority. A compromise that must be responsibly refined in its implementation by the new federal government and the new Bundestag. It is an important first step that this special fund is supposed to provide 500 billion euros in investment funds over the next twelve years in a planning-secure manner. However, they can only unfold their effect if they are allocated in addition to the investments already planned in the regular budget draft and if they flow into meaningful projects.”

The DVF and the mobility industry have been pointing out the growing investment gaps in transport infrastructure for many years. According to Klinkner, these gaps must be closed with the additional funds, the transport routes must be maintained, and resilience and performance must be improved through expansion and digitalization. Furthermore, investments must be made in supply infrastructures, electromobility, hydrogen, and other alternative fuels for the transformation of the sector.

100 billion euros alone from 2025 to 2030

The additional investment needs for transport infrastructure outside the regular federal budget are estimated at 100 billion euros for the period from 2025 to 2030 alone. In addition, 65 billion euros are needed for public transport. Other urgently needed infrastructure measures for the transformation are not yet included in these sums. “The mobility industry as well as the companies in the planning and construction sectors now need planning security regarding which projects are to be implemented in which timeframe so that they can adjust their capacities accordingly,” demands the DVF President.

The decision on the projects to be included, possible inflows to the special fund beyond the loan funds, and – not least – a clear medium-term perspective for a real reform of the financing structures must also be specified: “In particular, long-term sustainable solutions must be created for the maintenance of our transport routes. While the special fund takes the pressure off public budgets, it does not resolve the structural deficits. The new federal government must address these urgent tasks immediately to ensure the success of the rescue operation for Germany as a location.”

With regard to the planned 100 billion euros for the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF), it must be ensured that the transformation of the mobility sector continues to be actively supported. The measures housed in the KTF, such as those for hydrogen, electrification, or lightweight construction, have proven effective.

The dilapidated rail infrastructure in Germany is expected to benefit significantly from the special fund © Loginfo24

THE FREIGHT RAILWAYS create a compact paper with concrete proposals

“If used correctly, the billions of the planned special fund for infrastructure could lead to significant frustration reduction,” said GÜTERBAHNEN Managing Director Peter Westenberger in Berlin. Many promises have been made regarding the expansion of the rail network – and just as many have been broken. Now both the long-delayed expansion and the overdue renovation could gain momentum. Quality and capacity in the rail network could finally increase, and the need for improvisation could decrease. The freight industry and travelers could regain trust in the railways and leave trucks and cars behind more often. The political goals for larger rail shares in transport could become achievable, and Germany could fulfill its transport responsibility in the heart of Europe. The 200th anniversary of German railways in 2035 could become a celebration of pride instead of agony. Westenberger continued: “Of course, there are also risks with such a program: price increases without additional services, a watering can principle, years of wrangling, and more. The new federal government must take the additional funds as an opportunity to modernize its processes for planning and financing. The acceleration commission for railways made many good proposals for this at the end of 2023.”

Initially, the coalition must roughly agree on what total investment volume from the regular budget, special fund, and Climate and Transformation Fund should be made available for rail infrastructure in the next ten to twelve years.

Financing fund for replacement investments and expansion

Together with the federal budget for 2025, a multi-year financing fund for replacement investments and for expansion should be created. The fund should be fed from ongoing revenues, the special fund, and a one-time contribution from the sale proceeds of the planned DB Schenker sale. It should be administered by a newly and neutrally established Federal Office for Rail Infrastructure (BASchi). As in Switzerland, such an authority must ensure that there is expected reliability in terms of duration, costs, and quality in the renovation, construction, and financing of rail infrastructure. Westenberger: “Instead of a DB InfraGO AG, we believe that a newly established ‘Schiene Deutschland GmbH’ directly owned by the federal government would be the right contractor for planning and construction. If the separation from the DB Group does not succeed or comes later, the new authority would not become unnecessary but even more important.”

“A huge construction site” is, according to Westenberger, “the lack of planning by the federal government. The Basic Law names it as its task to specify what should happen when and where in rail infrastructure, and it should regulate this in a – so far non-existent – federal law according to Art. 87 e para. 4 sentence 2 GG.” Currently, there is no reliable plan for the network renovation and the countless expansion orders that the federal government has issued under the Federal Railways Expansion Act; prioritization and timelines for realization are missing.

Infraplan still completely inadequate

THE FREIGHT RAILWAYS describe the Infraplan, which the traffic light government has been discussing for years, as “currently completely unsuitable for this huge task of analysis, planning, and decision preparation.” Above all, the lack of legal anchoring and binding connection to financing as well as short-termism are criticized by the FREIGHT RAILWAYS in their paper on the current discussion status of the Infraplan concept. Because they see the existing cascade of federal transport infrastructure plans, needs plans for rail, investment framework plans, and individual financing agreements as only superficially plausible and suitable. Westenberger: “The actual malnutrition of rail infrastructure occurred in parallel to this smokescreen due to steering from a road-oriented financial planning. Only with the fund solution and the revision of planning instruments will we be able to effectively utilize the predominantly debt-financed future investments for the German rail network and its customers.”

THE FREIGHT RAILWAYS have made proposals in a compact paper for the coalition negotiations on how the funds borrowed from the future can be effectively used.

Title photo: © Tobias Koch / Caption: Friedrich Merz