NGO urges Germany to fully electrify railways ahead of gov’t reform plan

Germany should aim to fully electrify train travel by 2030 as part of its new rail strategy, said climate NGO Environmental Action Germany (DUH). The country’s transport ministry is set to present a package of structural reforms to the country’s national railway system and to state-owned operator Deutsche Bahn, which is in poor condition, on Monday (22 September).

Over a third of rail lines in the country are not electrified and often rely on fossil fuel-fired engines, DUH said. The NGO called for a clear roadmap for the electrification, reactivation, and affordability of regional rail transport, arguing that “at this rate, it would take another 200 years to complete the electrification of all routes.”

The upcoming railway strategy could be less binding than initially anticipated, news magazine Der Spiegel wrote. According to the article, the concept was developed by the transport ministry alone, without a full cabinet agreement. “This creates the risk that [the transport minister’s’] plans will be immediately criticized and the chances of implementation will dwindle,” WirtschaftsWoche reported.

“The railway must be punctual, safe, and clean, and the company must become faster, leaner, more powerful, and also more economical,” Germany’s transport minister Patrick Schnieder said ahead of the strategy’s publication, reported WirtschaftsWoche. Deutsche Bahn faces a run-down infrastructure, poor punctuality rates, and economic problems. The Court of Auditors recently said that Germany’s railway lacks a strategy to escape its “permanent crisis.”

On taking office earlier this year, chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government announced an unprecedented investment package worth 500 billion euros for infrastructure, including rail. DB has laid claims to almost one third of the entire sum made available in the infrastructure and climate fund.

Germany is aiming to shift traffic from road to rail, as well as replace diesel engines with climate-friendly alternatives to reach climate targets. The transport sector has repeatedly missed emission reduction targets and the government is set to present a plan on how to cut these stubborn emissions early next year. Germany’s transport ministers just agreed to raise the price of the nationwide public transport ticket to 63 euros per month from 2026, up from the current 59 euros.