Germany has adopted a new “Infrastructure Future Act”. The new law should simplify the procedure to build new infrastructure in the country. Will it help to bring positive change to the rail network?
“We are ending the era of drawn-out procedures. Germany needs an infrastructure that guarantees safety, mobility, and economic strength”, commented German transport minister Patrick Schieder.
“With the Infrastructure Future Act, we are creating a modern, digital, and pioneering planning law. We are finally giving authorities and companies speed, clarity, and reliability – so that renovations and expansions reach where they are needed: on our roads, bridges, railways, and waterways.”
A good initiative, it seems, and very much needed considering Germany’s worn-out rail infrastructure. However, Germany’s rail sector association Allianz pro-Schiene looks at the new law “with skepticism”. It says that the facilitation of more and quicker rail projects is good, but does not expect any real changes without more money.
Good in principle, but…
“In Germany, it simply takes far too long for a planned rail project to actually be built and completed. Therefore, it is fundamentally good that the federal government has finally committed to shortening planning and construction times”, commented the association’s Managing Director Dirk Flege on the positive aspect of the Infrastructure Future Act.
Yet, he has doubts about the practical impact of the law. “If the federal government continues to allocate only small sums for the expansion and construction of rail lines in the federal budget, even a legally mandated acceleration of planning processes will not lead to new or additional tracks”, said Flege.
Meaningful sums of money are lacking for rail, but roads can count on three billion more euros in the federal budget. Allianz pro-Schiene concludes: the new infrastructure act will mostly help to build roads faster. And that is fundamentally incompatible with climate goals.
“When it comes to infrastructure, we don’t need more of everything faster – we need more of the right things faster”, added Dirk Flege. In order to get more rail infrastructure, Germany needs a reliable, multi-year binding financing plan, argues the rail alliance.