BERLIN — The German government and the country’s national railway company, Deutsche Bahn, have agreed on a plan to spend 86.2 billion Euros ($98.1 billion) to overhaul the deteriorating rail network.
DW.com reports that the government will invest 62 billion Euros, while Deutsche Bahn — a private company with the Federal Republic of Germany as its only shareholder — will contribute 24.2 billion Euros in a 10-year plan to modernize the railway.
“We will replace outdated facilities, ensure accessibility, improve construction management and the condition of railway bridges,” Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said. The plan calls for renovation of 2,000 bridges, as well as doubling the number of train drivers and passengers by 2030.
The new plan replaces an existing 5-year plan and will increase spending on the 20,000-mile rail network by 54 percent. It hopes to address service issues that saw one in four trains arrive late in 2018 and about 20 percent running behind schedule in the first half of 2019.
