Transport minister to present railway system reform plans by end of summer

The German government will announce a package of structural reforms to the country’s national railway system and state-owned operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) by the end of summer, transport minister Patrick Schnieder said in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.

“We will be investing heavily in infrastructure over the next few years to improve the tracks, the network and the traffic control centres, thereby ensuring less disruption to services,” the minister said. Schnieder said investment would prioritise maintenance over construction of new infrastructure. The renovation of “high-performance corridors” will take precedence since improvements on these heavily used sections of track will improve overall rail reliability ‘significantly’ Schnieder added.

Germany’s railway system is in an increasingly bad state. On taking office earlier this year, Friedrich Merz’s government announced an unprecedented investment package for infrastructure, including rail. DB has laid claims to almost one third of the entire 500-billion-euro infrastructure and climate fund.

DB’s 2025 half-year report found that poorer than expected revenues were due to “disruption-prone infrastructure, the high number of additional construction sites required and the resulting continued poor punctuality.” Only 63.5 percent of long-distance trains arrived at their destination without significant delays, short of the 65 percent target but an improvement of 0.8 percent on the first half of last year. “This must improve without fail,” minister Schnieder told ARD, envisioning to bring punctuality figures up to over 80 percent.

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 is often referred to as the country's "problem child" when it comes to climate action.