By Andreas Kissler
BERLIN (Dow Jones) – Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) and Bahn Infrastructure Board Member Berthold Huber have signed agreements to advance the digitization of rail transport. An existing financing agreement will be increased from around 1.7 billion to around 2.7 billion euros, the Ministry of Transport announced. In addition, the railways have received approval from the federal government for further financing of the planning of several projects from the so-called starter package.
According to the information, all routes and rail junctions are to be equipped with the European train control system ETCS (European Train Control System) and digital interlockings (DSTW) in the long term. The goals are more space for trains, better punctuality and fewer disruptions – made possible by intelligently networked data from infrastructure and vehicles. In the future, Deutsche Bahn will be able to completely reorganize operations on the rail network and create up to 35 percent more capacity.
“In order to achieve our climate goals, we need more capacity on the rails quickly,” said Wissing. “We want to make rail the climate-neutral backbone of our transport system.” In addition to renovation and new construction and expansion, digitization is a crucial component. The agreements create the financial basis for introducing the ETCS and at the same time modernizing and digitizing the interlocking landscape in Germany.
“In view of the growing volume of traffic, we need more speed to make our rail network more effective and efficient,” explained Huber. In the medium and long term, Deutsche Bahn is focusing on expansion and new construction projects as well as the general renovation of important corridors. The digitization of the infrastructure is a decisive key for this.
According to the information, the funds now provided will go, among other things, into the modernization and digitization of the infrastructure on the Rhine-Alpine freight corridor. This magistral from the Dutch North Sea ports to Italy is to be equipped with the European rail traffic control system ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System). In addition, Deutsche Bahn can initiate further planning for the Scandinavia-Mediterranean corridor with around 307 million euros. A further 83 million euros are to be made available for planning the third building block for the digital node in Stuttgart. Around 11 million euros in planning funds are earmarked for the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed route.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 08, 2022 09:10 ET (14:10 GMT)