Germany to massively boost infrastructure spending up to 2029

Germany is to invest around €166 billion ($193 billion) in its state-run rail network and in motorway bridges up to 2029, Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder announced in Berlin on Tuesday.

“We will all have to get used to more construction sites to bring the transport infrastructure up to standard,” Schneider said. Around €107 billion is to be spent on the rail network, he added.

There has long been criticism of the state of the rail infrastructure in the country, and many motorway bridges are in need of repair.

State Secretary Stefan Schnorr said rail digitalization would be another focus, with signalling modernized and the European Train Control System, which allows trains to communicate and follow each other more closely, being implemented.

By the end of the current parliament in 2029, €52 billion will be invested in main roads and €8 billion in waterways. The amounts represent an increase of about 60% over the 2020-24 period.

Most of the money is to come from a special fund for infrastructure and climate that will provide €500 billion over 12 years. The conservative-led federal government, which took office in early May, has agreed to increase borrowing substantially.

Schnorr said the construction sector would now have planning security, but cautioned that sharp price increases would not be tolerated.

A spokeswoman for state-run rail company Deutsche Bahn (DB) welcomed the announcement, saying the investment would take German rail to a new level.

DB is planning to completely refurbish 40 main routes in the hope that these sections will not need major works for years, thus improving train punctuality and reliability.

The Frankfurt-Mannheim route was refurbished last year, and the Hamburg-Berlin route is to follow this year.