Deutsche Bahn (DB) is introducing a new construction site concept from mid-July: In the future, there will be fixed time slots in the timetable in which DB will implement maintenance and modernisation projects.
With the new “construction in time” principle, the number of timetable changes during the year will be halved by 2026, and the bundling of several trades per time slot will ensure longer construction freedom afterwards, DB claims.
Travelers and freight transport customers will be significantly less affected by construction site-related restrictions. Construction partners, public transport authorities and railway companies can reliably prepare for the construction work. DB and construction companies can use their resources much more efficiently.
“The operational situation cannot remain as it is. To make trains more punctual again, we are building more than ever before. To bring driving and construction back under one roof, we are now managing our construction sites according to a fundamentally new logic: construction follows the timetable – and not the other way around. We are organizing ourselves better, becoming more efficient and building more in the same amount of time in the future – so that fewer customers are affected by construction sites and can rely on stable timetables. That is the core idea of ’building in time’ and for me that means working for the common good,” says Dr. Philipp Nagl, CEO of DB InfraGO AG.
As of mid-July, the first step will be to change maintenance management. In future, maintenance teams will be on the road on defined sections of the route to carry out the necessary inspection and repair work kilometer by kilometer. Continuous and systematic maintenance ensures fewer short-term construction sites, reduces susceptibility to failure and stabilizes the system.
“With standardized planning, we are ensuring more stable rail operations – even now, while we are massively renewing and modernising the network. It is an important element of our strong rail strategy. In doing so, we are making our contribution to more traffic on climate-friendly rail,” said Nagl.
DB consistently schedules the recurring maintenance work required during off-peak times. In addition, the rails are free to travel after a lengthy period of construction work.
The new construction site management will also be implemented in the coming years for construction work for larger expansion and modernisation projects: longer time windows will then be available for extensive construction work. The systematization of construction site management with its defined construction windows takes into account that construction does not take place in parallel on a corridor and on important diversion routes.
The deployment of employees can be stably and reliably aligned to these predefined time windows – as can the use of machines. In future, construction machines can be used in twice as many shifts and thus much more efficiently than before.
In the past, a complex process had to be used to find individual closures for construction sites – i.e. times when no trains could run. This has further reduced the already limited capacity of the rail network as the number of construction sites has steadily increased.
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