The $60BN Plan to Save Germany's Failing Railways

Video narrated and hosted by Fred Mills. This video contains paid promotion for Enscape Impact.

GERMANY is a nation known for its efficiency. From a highly productive automotive industry to cities where people would never cross a street before the light turns green, Germans like to do things with precision and order.

You’d be forgiven, then, for assuming the railways here run like clockwork, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Decades of underfunding and neglect have led to outdated and overloaded infrastructure, resulting in frequent delays and cancellations.

Despite having more than 1,500 km of high-speed lines, trains are being held at a red signal far too often, and other countries are starting to take notice.

But now Germany is embarking on its biggest rail overhaul in decades and investing billions in the troubled network.

This is how it plans to pull off one of the largest upgrades of its kind in Europe, while battling to complete a pair of megaprojects it's been trying to finish for years.

Making a statement

In September 2023, Germany’s Minister for Transport, Volcker Wissing, made a huge announcement. 

He was launching the largest infrastructure programme of its kind since the German Rail Reform in 1994 — three years after reunification. Why? Because since then, activity on the country’s railways has grown significantly.

Above: Germany does have an extensive high-speed rail network. Image courtesy of Deutsche Bahn AG / Georg Wagner.

Between 1994 and 2022, passenger volume increased 46% and the share of people travelling by train compared to other modes of transport went up from 6.7% to 9.3%.

Today, the system operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn handles almost 100BN passenger kilometres every year.

But this rise in demand has led to some big problems. More travellers has meant more trains going out on a network that’s actually smaller than it was three decades ago.

As Deutsche Bahn admitted in early 2024, “the infrastructure cannot cope with the constantly growing volume of rail traffic. The system lacks robustness, resilience and capacity reserves. Considerable quality deficits are the result.”

Running late

So, how bad have things got? Well, in 2023 only 64% of long-distance trains arrived on time — the worst figure on record.

That same year, Deutsche Bahn had to fork out more than €130M in refunds due to delays — a 43% rise in 12 months.

And it isn’t just Germans that have suffered. During the Euro 2024 football tournament, late and overcrowded trains caused travel chaos for fans, and even the teams themselves.

In short, these railways are now in a bit of a sorry state and in need of significant investment. Fortunately, that’s just what the country is getting.

Above: Volker Wissing, Germany's Federal Minister for Digital and Transport. Image courtesy of Deutsche Bahn AG / Stefan Wildhirt. 

Wissing and his federal government have decided to inject a staggering €40BN into the country’s railways up to 2027.

What’s the plan for all that money, though, and which areas are of the greatest concern? And perhaps most importantly, why hasn’t Germany done anything about it until now? Well, that isn’t entirely true.

Olympic legacy

Back in 1972, when it hosted the Summer Olympic Games, Munich unveiled one of the biggest public transport systems in Germany — the S-Bahn.

If you’re not familiar with German railways, S-Bahns connect a city centre to suburban areas, going over and above ground. U-Bahns operate solely within the confines of a city, and mostly underground.

Anyway, this S-Bahn was designed to transport 240,000 people every day when it first opened. More than 50 years later, around 850,000 people now use it. 

Although there are eight different lines on the Munich S-Bahn, branching out across the region, when trains get to the city centre they all have to pass through a single main line.

Not only has this tunnel reached capacity; it’s also developed into a major bottleneck. And if something goes wrong on the line, there’s no alternative route.

So, how is Deutsche Bahn addressing this issue? What do you do when you’ve got a single line running through a city that’s become chronically overcrowded?

Above: Passenger numbers on the Munich S-Bahn have almost quadrupled in half a century. Image courtesy of DB InfraGO AG.

You build a new one. Yes, a second main line is now under construction to ease pressure on the system, cut travel times and ensure the S-Bahn keeps running when problems occur.

Approximately 11 km in length, it’ll go from Laim — west of the city centre — to Leuchtenbergring in the east.

And there’s already been a lot of construction happening, like at the western tunnel portal, where trains will pass under the existing tracks on their way to the centre.

Since Summer 2024, the outlines of the future tunnels that will be excavated with TBMs have been clearly visible, ready for the machines to start digging.

After entering the portal, trains will soon arrive at the main station, which is being completely redeveloped. Platforms for the new route will slot in beneath the existing levels, 41 metres below ground.

A new reception building is in the works too, and will go where the old ticket hall once stood. That was demolished back in 2019 — a process that took around two weeks.

Digging deep

To construct the new underground station, a large excavation pit had to be opened up on site. This allows materials and machines to pass in and out as the subterranean levels are gradually carved out and concreted.

The same method is being carried out at the next stop on our journey along the route — the Marienhof. Under construction right next door to the cathedral and Munich’s central square, it’s an entirely new station that will be covered with green space once completed.

Due to the U-Bahn getting in the way, and to avoid disruption to those historic surrounding buildings, the platforms will go in at a similar depth to the main station.

Above: A rendering shows the depth of the new platforms of Munich's Central Station (Hauptbahnhof). Image courtesy of DB InfraGO AG.

But how are they building these stations so far underground? Well, before one of those pits can go in, a diaphragm wall has to be constructed first.

It forms the outer shell of the station and is built by cutting a series of vertical slits deep into the ground.

A special formwork is placed into these, which is filled with concrete and the process is repeated around the perimeter. Meanwhile, holes are drilled all across the site for the steel supports to slot into.

Next, it’s time to dig those pits, enabling excavation to take place under the surface right up to the diaphragm walls. Concrete covers can then be put in at certain levels, which become the various floors of the station.

Looking east

Although work is yet to start on it, the new Ostbahnhof will be built just 16 metres deep — this time above the existing U-Bahn line and beneath the overground tracks.

Finally, just beyond this point, trains will resurface before reaching the upgraded Leuchtenbergring. This is where the new line connects back up with the original core route.

All sounds very impressive, but unfortunately the project hasn’t gone entirely according to plan. Having started construction in 2017, 2028 was supposed to be the year it finishes, but that’s been pushed back. By a lot.

Completion is now expected between 2035 and 2037, with costs currently set at around €7BN. That figure has risen too; in 2016 it was just under €4BN.

Above: Construction pits at the Marienhof. Image courtesy of DB InfraGO AG.

There are several reasons for this. Some parts of the project, like the Ostbahnhof, have been through major redesigns since the first plans were submitted.

Approvals have taken longer than predicted, there have been disputes over how the project is funded and a rise in material costs has not helped matters either.

Despite all this there is widespread acceptance that this does need to happen, and that it will be beneficial in the long run.

While the current core route serves around 1,000 journeys each weekday, when the second one is eventually operational, capacity will double to about 2,000.

OK, but now it’s time to move on to a city northwest of here that’s been experiencing an oddly similar story.

Stuttgart's stuttering megaproject

A couple of hundred kilometres to the northwest, there’s another project that’s an immense feat of construction, and yet has become known more for its setbacks. Stuttgart 21.

Its main component is a huge underground through-station to replace the old central terminus. Then there’s the 56km of tunnels, more than 40 bridges and 100km of new tracks.

Now, we’re not going to go too in-depth here because we already did that in our video from 2021, which covered the story behind it and what’s made it so controversial.

But we can give a bit of an update, as the project has made significant progress. All of the 28 chalice columns that support the ceiling of the main station have now been built along with the roof itself, and according to Deutsche Bahn the tunnelling is complete.

Above: The inside of the new underground Central Station in Stuttgart. Image courtesy of Deutsche Bahn AG.

However, it doesn’t mean everything has suddenly turned rosy with the project. It’s now set to cost at least €11BN and it was recently delayed, again, to 2026.

It’s fair to say these city projects haven’t exactly been popular with the German public, and the same can be said for the rail network as a whole. But there’s been a big development.

Another giant scheme now underway has caused more frustration, and yet it’s likely to make a much bigger impact.

Corridors of power

A total of 40 rail corridors across the country — around 4,000 km overall — are being extensively renovated from now until 2030. This is what the bulk of that €40BN is being spent on.

The first corridor to be modernised is the Riedbahn, a 70-kilometre link between Frankfurt and Mannheim. Over 300 freight and passenger trains come through here daily.

Because it regularly hits maximum capacity, the Riedbahn is another major bottleneck on the network, which is why Deutsche Bahn has made upgrading it a top priority.

More than 100 km of track is getting replaced and overhead lines are being renewed, along with the points all along the line. They’re the sections where trains move between tracks.

265,000 new sleepers are going in, as well as 380,000 tonnes of ballast. There will also be three new crossovers, creating alternative routes for trains running at the same time.

Above: The Riedbahn is one of the busiest routes on the entire German rail system. Image courtesy of Deutsche Bahn AG.

Now, as you can imagine, all of this work taking place on such a key transport route has caused a lot of disruption, especially when it’s put the line out of action for nearly half a year. Services have had to be rerouted, adding half an hour to journeys between the two cities.

Commuters in other areas can expect more of the same, too. The line connecting Hamburg and Berlin, which transports up to 30,000 people daily, will begin its own overhaul in 2025, and is also due to close for several months.

After that, the so-called high-performance corridors operating out of Cologne and Nuremberg will get their turn a year later. We’re not going to list all 40, but to put it simply, all the main cities are going to be part of it.

So, if you’re planning on interrailing around Germany, you might want to bear in mind there could be a lot of disruption.

Worth the wait?

But it’s important to look at the end result. The improvements to the Riedbahn are expected to reduce infrastructure-related disruptions by over 80%. A full digitalisation of the network is also included in the plan, which promises to raise capacity by 30%.

It would appear, then, that Germans may at last have some cause for optimism and should start to see the effects of this long-awaited strategy in the very near future.

Above: A map of the planned German high-performance rail network in 2030 — after the upgrades.

With the German rail system at its lowest point in a generation, news of an unprecedented funding boost will have been welcomed by many.

However, as we’ve already seen, spending big money doesn’t necessarily mean things will go smoothly.

But with those schemes now making progress and a firm plan in place to modernise the entire network, this could be Deutsche Bahn’s best shot at redemption.

This video contains paid promotion for Enscape Impact. Find out how it can help your next project here.

Video narrated and hosted by Fred Mills. Additional footage and images courtesy of Deutsche Bahn AG, DB InfraGO AG, Arbalete / CC BY-SA 4.0, Dominic Dupont, FOTO:FORTEPAN / Romák Éva / CC BY-SA 3.0, Georg Wagner, Manuela Much, Masood Aslami, Oliver Lang, panterra.tv, Stefan Wildhirt, Uwe Miethe, Volker Emersleben and WDR.