Tough struggle: Bahn boss Richard Lutz (from right) with Brandenburg’s Dietmar Woidke, Berlin’s Kai Wegner and the Federal Rail Transport Commissioner Michael Theurer (from right to left) Photo: Michael Sauerbier
By Michael Sauerbier
Great train summit, small result. The route expansion demanded by Berlin and Brandenburg is progressing slowly. The culprits are a lack of speed and arguments about money.
The right people were sitting together: Monday evening met Berlin’s governor Kai Wegner (CDU) and Brandenburg boss Dietmar Woidke (SPD) in Potsdam with railway boss Richard Lutz and the federal government’s rail transport officer, Michael Theurer (FDP). The aim of the two country heads: “Shift more traffic from road to rail.”
Wegner demanded boldly: “We need a climate turbo so that we can finally get the ideas on track! But it all just takes too long.” Because the rail projects that have been planned since 2017 and expanded last year are dragging on – or are in danger of failing.
One thing is certain: the Berlin-Stettin route will be completed in 2025. Still uncertain: The important 30-minute cycle to Lusatia on two tracks between Cottbus and Lübbenau. Problem: Due to inflation, the structural change pot is not sufficient. The federal government does not want to inject any money.
The federal government does not even consider the expansion of the Ostbahn Berlin-Küstrin to be a “priority requirement”. But Wegner and Woidke don’t give up. “We know how to drill thick boards, how to fight,” rumbled Woidke. Berlin and Brandenburg are now looking for supporters in the Bundesrat to put more pressure on the federal government.