GERMANY: DB InfraGO will carry out 13 corridor renovations between 2027 and 2031 instead of 21, under a plan agreed with the Federal Ministry of Transport. The other eight are postponed, not cancelled, among them, according to dpa, the port lines around Bremen and Koblenz–Mainz on the Rhine.
The ministry and DB InfraGO, the infrastructure manager of Deutsche Bahn, presented the revised strategy on 9 October. The renovations are now ranked by the gain each is expected to bring in quality, stability and punctuality. Priorities from 2032 will be set next year, and necessary replacement investment goes ahead regardless, the ministry said.
The list is the first result of the review of the programme that DB chief executive Evelyn Palla began in July. In September, DB cut the pace to two or three renovations a year. The original plan was to renovate around 40 heavily used corridors by 2036. That timetable no longer applies, and the end date for the programme is open, the news agency dpa reported.
Thirteen corridors by 2031
The ministry’s schedule counts Munich–Rosenheim, renovated in two stages, as one corridor:
2027 – Lehrte–Berlin (under way since October), Rosenheim–Salzburg, Fulda–Hanau
2028 – Cologne–Koblenz, Munich–Rosenheim (first stage), Hagen–Unna–Hamm, Lübeck–Hamburg
2029 – Hamburg–Hannover, Würzburg–Ansbach–Treuchtlingen, Aachen–Cologne
2030 – Stendal–Magdeburg, Uelzen–Stendal
2031 – Lehrte–Groß Gleidingen, Munich–Rosenheim (second stage)
The ministry does not name the eight corridors that slip. Dpa lists them as Bremen–Bremerhaven, Bremen–Hamburg, Koblenz–Mainz, Frankfurt–Heidelberg, Mannheim–Karlsruhe, Forbach–Ludwigshafen, Stuttgart–Ulm and Würzburg–Nuremberg. The two Bremen lines carry port hinterland traffic. Trains on all eight will run on unrenovated track for longer.
Freight first after each closure
DB InfraGO is introducing a three-phase model that splits each renovation into work before, during and after the main closure. Work that does not need major restrictions is to be moved out of the closure where possible. After the closure, traffic restarts step by step, as a rule with freight trains first.
The target is 80% fewer infrastructure-related disruptions within 100 days of reopening.
DB InfraGO will expand its preparation of diversion routes and coordinate construction phases with other work on the network. Freight on Lehrte–Berlin, closed since October, gets a second diversion route from February. The ministry said the plan was developed with the federal states and the industry.
ETCS without signals as standard
From the early 2030s, renovations will install ETCS Level 2 without lineside signals as standard, in consultation with the operators. Until then, new interlockings will be ETCS-compatible. Troisdorf–Wiesbaden and Rosenheim–Salzburg get ETCS Level 2 with signals as a transition.
On a line without signals, only trains with ETCS on board can run. The standard therefore ties operators’ fleets to the renovation schedule on every corridor renewed from the early 2030s.
Obertraubling–Passau and Troisdorf–Wiesbaden are due back in service in mid-December. The ministry gave no cost for the revised programme.