Germany Releases Five-Year Railway Infrastructure Plan, Proposing 155 Kilometers of New Track

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 6, the German Federal Ministry of Transport released its first five-year national railway infrastructure plan (Infraplan 2026), setting out targets for 2026 to 2030 for new railway construction and expansion, renewal of existing lines, electrification, station modernization, and digitalization. The plan proposes putting 155 kilometers of new track into service within five years, completing 271 small and medium-sized infrastructure projects, and increasing the number of stations meeting prescribed construction and equipment standards to 737. Ulrich Lange, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Transport, handed over the plan in Berlin that day to Philipp Nagel, CEO of DB InfraGO AG.

The line construction plan includes projects such as the Karlsruhe–Basel railway, the Angermünde–Szczecin and Polish border railway, and the Lübbenau–Cottbus railway. Projects included in the expected completion scope for 2026–2030 also include the Berlin–Dresden, Leipzig–Dresden, Hamburg S4 urban railway, and Cologne–Aachen railway upgrade projects. As a statistical reference, Germany put 266 kilometers of new track into service from 2020 to 2025, while this five-year plan adopts a commissioning target of 155 kilometers.

The renewal of existing railways covers new crossover tracks, train overtaking facilities, signaling facilities, and supporting freight projects. Among them, the small and medium-sized infrastructure program includes facilities adapted for 740-meter-long freight trains, as well as line capacity upgrade projects aligned with Germany's nationwide periodic timetable. The share of electrified railways in the national network is planned to rise from 62.7% in 2025 to 63.7% in 2030.

The renewal of key railway corridors is also included in the plan. For 2026, 702 kilometers of corridor renewal work is scheduled, of which the Hamburg–Berlin main line accounts for 271 kilometers. Renewal construction on the Berlin–Hanover high-speed railway began on October 2 and is scheduled for completion in December 2027. The German Federal Ministry of Transport has not yet set annual corridor renewal mileage targets for 2027 to 2030, and the relevant targets are planned to be supplemented in the 2027 edition of the infrastructure plan.

The station modernization targets are based on established construction and equipment standards, and the number of stations meeting the standards is planned to increase from 237 in 2025 to 737 in 2030. Noise abatement projects along railway lines are planned to cover 239 kilometers of track. Train delays caused by railway facilities averaged 28,820 minutes per day in 2025 and are planned to fall to 25,600 minutes per day by 2029, with this target provisionally retained for 2030.

Digitalization projects include the deployment of the European Train Control System (ETCS). By the end of 2025, the length of railway lines in Germany equipped with ETCS was 683 kilometers, accounting for about 2% of the national railway network. The first five-year plan has not yet determined the additional ETCS deployment mileage for 2026 to 2030, and specific targets will be further developed based on the federal railway digitalization strategy and DB InfraGO AG's new performance agreement.

The German Federal Ministry of Transport will track the plan's implementation through 8 key performance indicators and update the five-year construction schedule annually. The relevant plan is intended to align with the 2035 target railway network plan, the federal budget, and the special railway infrastructure fund. The federal government plans to advance the legal implementation of the infrastructure master plan and the fund arrangements during this legislative term.