The 33 000-kilometre-long German rail network is in many places in a deplorable state of disrepair. This is now also the response of the Federal government to a Minor Interpellation of the FDP in the Bundestag. Therefore, this year there were up to 30. November sections nationwide, nearly 500, so large defects showed that all the trains had to go there several months slower.
on average, it takes 92 days to “be slowly eliminated driving”, writes the Parliamentary Secretary of state, and railway Officers of the government, Enak Ferlemann. Therefore, 117 routes were affected at the end of November. The most damaged sections were recorded in Bavaria (128), Schleswig-Holstein (93), North Rhine-Westphalia (78), Baden-Württemberg (47), Rhineland-Palatinate (34) and lower Saxony (25).
As the main causes for the numerous network defects, the high age of many of the railway facilities, neglected maintenance, and maintenance, as well as weather conditions apply. In not a few cases, the rail engages Federal and assigns, as the Supervisory authority, that trains need to slow down, until the damage to rails, switches, Sleepers or in the ballast bed are fixed.
billion from the Federal government for the infrastructure
Responsible for the state-owned rail network since the rail reform of 1994, the infrastructure of the daughters of the Deutsche Bahn AG (DB Netz AG, DB Station & Service AG and DB Energie AG). Alone from 2020 to 2024, the largest state in the group to get up to 25 billion euros in tax money alone for the preservation of the infrastructure. The Federal court of auditors had criticized at the beginning of December in a special report on the poor state of the Network in spite of enormous Federal subsidies and massive aberrations warned. He called on the government to better controls.
For the FDP Bundestag Deputy Christian Jung are the many slow driving for the last alarm signal for the Federal government and the leaders of the Deutsche Bahn. These deficiencies showed how dilapidated the infrastructure. Seemingly small Details and everyday wear and tear could get to their security relevance, and then quickly Chaos in the transport of people and goods. This has been demonstrated in many cases of recent years.
the reason for the Small request of the members were, among other things, the massive problems with the Zoller line between Tübingen and Sigmaringen, the led in the southwest for months to massive delays. The damage to the tracks, the railway officer Ferlemann justified by the topographic location, and the “exceptional weather conditions” in the heat of the summer of 2018. According to the government, were between 1. March and 5. November there a total of 2239 trains of the speed restrictions affected.
roadworks cause delays
The delays, the five DB-operating bodies, such as Balingen and Dußlingen were recorded and all passengers relate to, add up to more than 6000 minutes. The renovation of the track was delayed, in an obviously greatly. Only in August was, therefore, “after the heaping of the limitations Occur started” with the “planning for the short-term elimination”.
it had been then “unforeseen difficulties,” said the government. Even more harmful had occurred. The defects were only in the nights of 10. to 28. October removed been removed and the speed restrictions after this section. Additional maintenance measures had been carried out until the beginning of December, “in order to stabilize the track position”.
Not only the deficiencies in the route network of the company problems. There is also the trains are, as the Brand of the ICE in October in the West forest. In consequence of this incident, the DB security reasons, now a part of your high-speed a ban on their Use for a particularly long Tunnel fleet. The DB was informed by press office on demand, and thus confirmed the authenticity of a document available to the daily mirror.
In October, was advised on the high-speed line Cologne-Rhine/Main ICE of the third Generation of the Brand – such as DB explained to the Bundestag, it has been proved that the spilled oil had ignited. In the result, the group had arranged a special examination for all ICE-3 trains of the series 403 and 406.
range ban in long tunnels
In a on the 20. December-dated internal Directive prohibits the railway on the high-speed line Hannover-Würzburg, the investigation is not completed, the use of vehicles, which. Specifically, the sections between burgsinn and Fulda and Kassel and Göttingen are affected. In these range areas of the country are back – and the Mündener Tunnel, both of which are over ten kilometers long. These were “due to its length particularly challenging,” explains the press office. Because the group wants to exclude any risk, “be it ever so unlikely,” had been issued a driving ban for all non-audited ICE 3. Two-thirds of the fleet had in the meantime been tested in the second week of January, the company intends to have completed the measure. In addition, the railroad recently stated, to control the ICE-3 transformers is now “considerably tighter”.
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German rail network, The track laid since 1994, more than 5400 kilometres of road still
For the passengers there is “virtually no adverse effects,” it said. On the track is only two train rides with the affected series were on the road every day, to do this you use the already-inspected vehicles. For the availability of the long-distance transport fleet in the distance prohibition is, nevertheless, untimely. The operating situation is tense. On Christmas eve, two ICE-damaged-unit trains in a shunting accident in Munich is difficult. Also when it comes to fire in the Parts of the destroyed ICE will fall out of the pool. A few weeks ago, an already in June created the paper had become public, in which it is said that only one out of every five ICE without defects is on the way.
