Deutsche Bahn’s aging rail network contributes significantly to train delays. Now, fundamental renovation is about to begin. In addition, modernisation and construction projects are planned for around a thousand stations and stops in 2024, including major stations such as Duisburg, Dresden, Hanover, Ulm and Munich.
According to the railway company, investments will also be made in many small and medium-sized stations, focusing on accessible entrances, weather protection and passenger information, as reported by Spiegel, as picked up by voiceofeurope.com.
By the end of 2030, 355 small and medium-sized initiatives are expected to improve the quality of the existing network. These include additional signalling, switching points and new platforms. DB is also building more modern signal boxes for digital rail operations.
This year, Deutsche Bahn plans to renew 2000 kilometres of track and 2000 switches and crossings. “Investments by DB, the federal government and the states alone in rail infrastructure amount to around 16.4 billion euros in 2024,” the state-owned corporation announced Monday. The aim is to halt the ageing rail infrastructure.
The rail network is considered dilapidated and overloaded. In daily operations, numerous disruptions on key routes and many construction sites have led to a large number of delays recently. The ageing rail infrastructure is measured in the annual report on the state of the network. In the current report (for the year 2022), the “need to catch up with ageing delays” is estimated at €103.4 billion. The backlog is particularly significant for bridges (€59.9 billion). Whether ageing can be stopped in 2024 will only be visible in the subsequent State of the Network report.
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