From the industry’s perspective, the government’s goal for more freight transport by rail is unrealistic. The alliance of the SPD, Greens and FDP aims for a quarter of freight transport to be carried out by rail by 2030. “I think that’s illusory,” said Siegfried Russwurm, President of the Federation of German Industries, to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “To achieve this, a third more goods would have to be transported by rail. A third of a transport volume that will continue to grow.”
Last year, according to data from the Federal Network Agency, 19.8 percent of freight transport was carried out by trains. Russwurm demanded more speed in expanding the railway. “The rail infrastructure is growing in Europe, but we in Germany are massively slowing down,” he said.
BDI: It takes decades from the idea to its implementation
There is not enough capacity and approvals take too long. “When we talk about additional routes or tracks on existing routes, it takes decades from the first idea to the first train.” The upcoming general renovation of the most important rail corridors must be addressed effectively and efficiently.
Russwurm renewed the industry’s criticism of freight railway delays. Companies planned with a certain amount of advance notice and buffers. “But of course it cannot be the claim of a leading economic nation like Germany that tardiness becomes the rule.”
