Berlin Deutsche Bahn AG will receive far less money than planned from the federal government to modernize the rail network. As the Handelsblatt learned from government circles, the federal company will not even receive half of the announced 45 billion euros. This is also reflected in the draft budget for 2024. It is available to the Handelsblatt. The Deutsche Bahn board of directors is talking about a “disaster”.
The federal government has set itself the task of transferring the infrastructure divisions of Deutsche Bahn AG into a society geared towards the common good and thus better controlling the rail network in the future.
At the same time, the federal government wants to invest significantly more. The goal: the railways should make an important contribution to climate protection and by 2030 transport twice as many people and significantly more goods. On 1.1. The new company is scheduled to start in 2024.
In view of the financial situation, Deutsche Bahn issued a warning: “If the additional 45 billion does not come, then it will continue as before and the condition of the infrastructure will deteriorate instead of improving.”
In fact, a special fund of a similar magnitude to that of the Bundeswehr is even necessary. Without the money, the reform would fail before it even got started. “But the minister wants everything to get better,” it said.
20 billion for the main rail network, six billion for the expansion
In the spring, the railways notified the federal government that they would have to invest at least 45 billion euros extra to rehabilitate the ailing network and increase capacity. From 2024, Deutsche Bahn wants to completely block heavily used routes and renovate them from the ground up. According to an internal statement, Deutsche Bahn needs 20 billion euros for this alone.
In addition, it calculates six billion euros for the construction and expansion and electrification of routes and a further six billion euros for digitization. Three billion are to flow into the renovation of train stations.
Although the traffic light coalition had agreed to provide the money at the end of March, the commitment was linked to the budgetary situation. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) insists on budgetary discipline and only feels bound by one promise: the railways should receive 80 percent of the revenue from the planned, emission-based truck toll.
From December, she is to ensure that the federal government collects around twice as much toll as before. According to the draft budget, 4.8 billion of the forecast around six billion euros net are reserved for the railways over the next four years. The Bundestag is to pass the law in October.
The announced billions correspond at least almost to the sum that the railways need for the rehabilitation of heavily used routes. In the meantime, there was talk that the railways would receive at most half and perks such as subsidized track prices and aid for freight traffic would be canceled.
>> Read here: Transport industry in turmoil – Wissing should introduce climate tolls in 2025 at the earliest
Seen in this way, the 19.2 billion euros extra until 2027 are a success. Nevertheless, there remains a gap of 25 billion euros for the railways, which it tries to close as far as possible with a trick: the argument that rail travel is active climate protection could open up some funding pots.
Deutsche Bahn has lobbyed accordingly intensively in recent months. According to information from the Handelsblatt, Bahn boss Richard Lutz, his finance chief Levin Holle and infrastructure chief Berthold Huber have personally spoken to the politicians in the Bundestag. There is talk of at least six to eight meetings at the level of the deputy group chairmen in the past few months.
The hope: the householders could at least correct the budget a little – in favor of the railways. Huber had already warned in April to “stay careful” despite initial promises. There are many desires from others “who gnaw on the 45 billion”.
The Deutsche Bahn board of directors personally lobbies the MPs
Since then it has been clear: the householders will not be able to close the large gap. “We have to make sure that we find additional ways of financing the remaining money,” said Huber as a maxim. .As a special income, the possible sale of the group’s cash cow, the logistics company Schenker, is in the room. The sale will only be completed if there is a good price on the market, according to government circles.
The focus is on European funding programs and also on the government’s multi-billion climate fund. The group could tap into it, since the federal government and the railways are working together on the image that the railways are essential in order to achieve the climate goals. The government’s draft budget states that “it will be examined whether and to what extent” the climate and transformation fund can make a contribution of 15 billion euros over the next two years to cover investment needs.
A gap of ten billion euros would remain. According to Huber, Deutsche Bahn also wants “about 4.5 to five billion euros” from the federal government to modernize stations and service units such as workshops.
>> Read here: The federal government wants to support the renovation of the railway network with billions
To do this, however, the federal government must first enable the funding by law. Bernd Koch, Head of DB Station and Service, expects this so that the railway can create “future stations” that are more than just stops.
He wants to convert 30 smaller such stations this year with his own money. In 2024, 100 will be added, and in 2040 all 5,400 stations will be renovated. “We need a lot of money and the will of the federal government to want to implement and promote it,” said Koch. He put the renovation backlog at “approximately ten billion euros”. The Bahn subsidiary must transfer profits from the rental to the group. The money “couldn’t go into the reception building,” Koch admitted.
The Monopolies Commission tackles such problems and calls for fundamental reforms. She actually advocates detaching the rail network from the group. However, since politicians are opposed to a clear separation of ownership of the network from the group, the planned company oriented towards the common good must at least be “economically and organizationally independent”.
>> Read here: Monopolies Commission calls for Deutsche Bahn to be broken up
Management and supervisory boards should not be active in other companies and the after-tax profit should be reported transparently in order to make cross-subsidization of other areas of the group clear.
This is what it says in a new special report that is available to the Handelsblatt. “An infrastructure society geared towards the common good must feel equally committed to all users of the infrastructure,” said the chairman of the commission, Jürgen Kühling.
The railway itself hopes to end the separation debate with the new company. “If we now consistently follow the path we have taken to the end, then the discussion will very quickly be a thing of the past,” says Infrastructure Board Member Huber with certainty. “We have to close the door on 1/1/24.”
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