all press releases all press releases
Deutschlandtakt

Source: BMDV

On the occasion of the regional conference on the Deutschlandtakt, Stefan Schnorr, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, together with representatives of the federal state transport ministries from Brandenburg, Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, provides information on how the Deutschlandtakt will benefit the North-East of Germany and what the future holds.

The Deutschlandtakt makes the railways fit for the future. It is the key compass for the infrastructural evolution of the rail network. The aim is to create efficient and reliable infrastructure. To achieve this, the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, together with all stakeholders, is bringing about a paradigm shift in infrastructure planning and transforming it into a standard process. The approach is: “first the timetable, then the infrastructure”.

The Deutschlandtakt will bring numerous improvements in rail transport for the North-East of Germany. These will become effective, visible and tangible step by step. This was stated by State Secretary Schnorr on Monday at the fourth and last regional conference of this year, which took place at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin.

State Secretary Schnorr:

The Deutschlandtakt as an overall strategy facilitates an even closer interconnection of the regions by means of more frequent intervals, better coordinated connections and systemized train paths in freight transport. In this way, we not only strengthen the rail mode but at the same time promote attractive, integrated mobility and freight transport concepts. With the forthcoming update of the target timetable for the Deutschlandtakt, we will, for example, integrate evolved local public transport concepts of the federal states into the strategic long-term planning and thus further optimize the nationwide regular interval system. At the same time, we will transform the timetable-based infrastructure development approach into a standard process.

Bettina Jarasch, Mayor and Senator for the Environment, Mobility, Consumer Protection and Climate Action:

The Deutschlandtakt is a gain for regional and supra-regional mobility and for tackling climate change. People in the capital region will benefit noticeably from this, as the upgrade of the line between Spandau and Nauen envisaged in the i2030 infrastructure project is part of the Deutschlandtakt corridor between Hamburg and Berlin, which is now to be financed by the Federal Government. This a huge success for the i2030 joint local public transport upgrade project of Berlin and Brandenburg. Additional tracks will make the rail network more stable and reliable. In combination with more attractive fares and intervals, it will become an option for more and more passengers to leave their cars at home and take the train – that is how new mobility works.

Rainer Genilke, State Secretary at the Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Planning of the State of Brandenburg:

The Deutschlandtakt mobilizes the Federal Government and the federal states to prepare the rail network for the future. Only an attractive network will attract many more people to rail transport. With approx. 30% more rail services in the Elbe-Spree and Lausitz networks as from the 2022 timetable change, the integrated transport authority of Brandenburg and Berlin already has a leading position. By 2031, we will increase local passenger rail services in Brandenburg by as much as 45% compared to 2017. We will support the Federal Government as active partners in the necessary upgrade of the railway infrastructure. The i2030 project for the capital region and the joint task force for evolving the Berlin node will lay the foundation for more rail services. Secured federal funding and accelerated planning procedures will allow for fast implementation.

Ines Jesse, State Secretary at the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Tourism and Labour of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania:

We want affordable, climate-friendly, attractive and safe mobility for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania that can be used by our citizens and guests. Modern and future-proof infrastructure is essential for this. With the Deutschlandtakt, we are taking the right steps together with the Federal Government and the participating federal states from the North-East region to achieve significant improvements to the railways.

The Deutschlandtakt is no abstract goal but is gradually becoming more concrete: on the road towards the Deutschlandtakt, there are currently measures of the rail requirement plan being planned and/or implemented with a level of investment of approx. 16 billion euros for the North-East. This concerns, among other things, the nodes Berlin, Halle, Magdeburg or Neustrelitz and the axes Berlin – Dresden – Prague, Leipzig – Dresden, Stendal – Magdeburg – Halle, Berlin – Stralsund, Leipzig – Chemnitz or Lübeck – Schwerin – Rostock – Stralsund. Here, the Federal Government welcomes the initiatives and planning preparations of the federal states – for instance within the scope of the i2030 project – so that the planning of the Federal Government and of the federal states dovetails and the evolution of the rail network advances rapidly.

More detailed information on the Deutschlandtakt can be found here (German only).