The German rail infrastructure manager DB InfraGO has released its rail infrastructure condition report for 2024. With the outdated rail network in dire straits, any improvement would be a welcome one. Yet most of all, the good news seems to be that things have not gotten worse.
DB InfraGO assessed 292,000 infrastructure assets on the rail network and 89,000 station assets using Germany’s school grading system. When looking at rail infrastructure overall, InfraGO noted an ever so slight improvement: from 3.03 to 3.00. In practice, things have mostly remained the same with improvements taking place locally.
“The main reason for this [3.03 to 3.00] improvement is the superstructure—especially the tracks, which improved from 3.08 in 2023 to 2.91 in 2024”, DB writes. Similarly, switches improved their rating from 3.10 to 3.05. The infrastructure manager points out that it renewed more than 2,000 kilometers of track and over 1,800 switches last year, which have contributed to the improvement.
Busy sections of rail received a worse-than-average rating of 3.05, and so DB concludes that those require special care in the future through comprehensive overhauls. “The Riedbahn pilot project has demonstrated the effectiveness of this concept. The condition rating for the line between Frankfurt/Main and Mannheim improved from 3.70 to 2.19 compared to the previous year.”
Safety systems received the lowest grade of all. “Interlockings only achieved a score of 4.12, and half of them are in need of replacement. At the same time, the high replacement value makes interlockings the biggest driver of the need for replacement, even ahead of bridges. The condition rating of level crossings has also deteriorated: from 3.37 in 2023 to 3.58 in 2024”, writes DB.
Rail freight reaction
The German rail freight industry, represented by branch association Die Güterbahnen, reacted not too positively to the report. “Despite further increases in replacement investments and maintenance costs, DB InfraGO has, on average, only been able to halt the further deterioration of the rail network”, managing director Peter Westenberger comments.
The association sees a need for more money, but also for DB to watch its own expenditures more carefully. “It remains incomprehensible to us why everything became more expensive for rail construction projects, while, according to the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development, the price increase for construction services overall calmed down again in 2024.”
Between 2023 and 2024, the estimated financial needs of the remaining network renewals rose from 92,2 billion euros to 109,8 billion, and the costs of stations rose from 17,6 billion euros to 20,3 billion.
DB halts rail projects?
Deutsche Bahn also announced that it would temporarily halt progress on a number of important rail upgrade projects as a result of a lack of funding. The company wants to see more money in order to pay for the next stages in project development. If the funding does not reach DB’s coffers on time, access routes to the Brenner and Gotthard tunnels in the Alps could be interrupted, for example.