The boss of the highly subsidized state-owned company spoke of “growing pains”. The demand is growing, at the same time the network has to be renewed and expanded. His solution is a “target image” that he agreed with Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP).
Accordingly, there should be a “high-performance network” and with it “generally renovated high-performance corridors”, which Lutz himself did not specify in detail. These should include important congested routes such as those from the Dutch seaports along the Rhine towards Switzerland or the lines from Scandinavia towards Eastern Europe and via the Brenner towards Southern Europe.
In the “second half of the 1920s” it could be so far. Lutz didn’t want to commit himself. He wants to start in 2024, the planning is still “at an early stage”, he announced the first key points for summer. Lutz wants to bundle construction sites and prefer to block a route over a large area instead of creating traffic jams with many small construction sites. “Healing from within” is what Lutz is aiming for.
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Deutsche Bahn: Lutz calls for more money and calls distant target
The situation on the rail network has been escalating for months. Bottlenecks due to so many construction measures as there have never been before, plus many disruptions: regular operation is hardly possible in passenger and freight traffic. Lutz admitted all of this on Monday. He left open the details of how he intends to fix the problems quickly.
Meanwhile, Lutz demanded what Deutsche Bahn repeatedly demands from the sole owner in order to reassure him: more money over as long a period as possible, which does not require annual targets and thus controls. After all, there should be “an acceptable level of punctuality”. The network company of the railways has declared more routes than “overloaded” every year since 2008, there are currently 22.
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For years, the railways have received a lot of tax money from the federal government to modernize the network. A master plan has shown how the network is to be expanded. And yet things are getting worse and worse on the web. Customers have been complaining for months about a lack of site management and information that is often not provided in good time. The situation was “very, very tense,” said one of the world’s leading raw material refiners on Monday. The railways need “a plan B” to better coordinate the construction sites. One thing is certain: “We need truck capacities.”
“We didn’t expect the situation like this,” admitted Lutz. “We have to be careful not to lose customers in freight transport.” And yet everything should continue as before. Lutz had at least already agreed on this with Minister Wissing as the representative of the sole owner, the federal government.
It was only at the weekend that Wissing declared that he worked “very well together” with the railway boss. He knows the track “inside out, we have a close exchange. He does it with a lot of heart and great commitment, and I like that.”
This means that the discussions about a possible resignation of the railway boss are off the table. Wissing also wants continuity in other personnel issues. The board position for infrastructure is vacant. He should be the head of passenger transport, Berthold Huber, and not an outsider, as some in the FDP are demanding, so that “a jolt goes through the company”. Instead, there should be “castling”, it is said with satisfaction in the group – i.e. solutions within the group to fill positions.
What will become of the infrastructure company of Deutsche Bahn?
The debate is also about the infrastructure division. The SPD, Greens and FDP have agreed to transform DB Netz and DB Station and Service into a society geared towards the common good. The problem: Even with a new company, the federal government will not have access to it because it remains part of the group. Wissing intends to found the company on January 1, 2024. It is “anything but trivial”. A separation, as the Greens and FDP wanted, was not possible with the SPD and the railway unions. Continuity at the state-owned company has long been the goal in this area as well.
But since hardly anything has been going on the fragile rail network, it has dawned on those involved: If the railway company is to really play a decisive role in the traffic turnaround, strategic rethinking must be carried out. Lutz has promised to achieve the government’s climate targets.
The coalition committee will finally decide on Tuesday who will move from the parties to the supervisory board, and the cabinet could decide on personal details as early as Wednesday. Contrary to initial plans, the Green Anton Hofreiter, who is considered a reformer, will not be there. The Supervisory Board meeting on June 22 is now eagerly awaited. The language rule is that the position of the infrastructure board can also be decided there.
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Whether Berthold Huber will actually take on the new job is completely open given the desolate situation on the internet. A lot depends on the personality. Does an infrastructure company oriented towards the common good still need a representative on the board? Or is a kind of general representative enough? Is Huber the right internal solution or does it need a breath of fresh air from outside? These questions seemed to have already been answered, but with the chaos on the tracks they are back on the agenda.
Unions reject changes
But a radical change of strategy has powerful opponents. The EVG union defends the unity of network and operation. “An infrastructure company geared towards the common good does not change anything structurally at the railway company. The Minister of Transport has now also recognized this,” said Vice President Martin Burkert to the Handelsblatt.
So far, no one has explained what the coalition envisions as a society oriented towards the common good. “Similarly, nobody has explained to us how the financing of the infrastructure can be secured if the previous financing cycle is abolished,” said Burkert. At the same time, he criticized the planned budget cuts for the railways: “The big issue at the next supervisory board meeting will be the question: Where will hundreds of millions of euros that have been canceled in the federal budget come from in the future?”
Deutsche Bahn: Too little investment in the rail network for many years
Lutz said there was no lack of money for the time being. Wissing justified the budget cuts by saying that there must first be more projects that are ready for construction, and then more money for investments followed. “The traffic light coalition is continuing the snail’s pace of ex-minister Scheuer,” criticized the left’s householder, Victor Perli. The funds for 2023 would “not even compensate for the cost increases during construction”. “So it won’t work with the doubling of the mileage and the Germany clock.”
The Greens politician and future supervisory board member of DB Netz, Matthias Gastel, said that the fact that too little was invested in the rail network for many years is now taking revenge. The traffic light coalition will invest more in rail than in road. “It is important that the financing is secured in the medium and long term and that Deutsche Bahn increases its planning capacity and optimizes its construction site management in order to keep disruptions to a minimum.”
More: Paper from the Bundestag: 100 billion for the Bundeswehr, but without a two percent target