Deutsche Bahn’s Germany cycle will only be implemented by 2070

The Federal Government Commissioner for Rail Transport, State Secretary Michael Theurer (FDP) from the Ministry of Transport, does not see the German cycle, which is important for the traffic turnaround, fully implemented until 2070. The Deutschlandtakt will be implemented "in the next 50 years as a project of the century," Theurer told ZDF, according to a report on Thursday. It was "always very clear that this would take decades".

Theurer told AFP on Thursday that the Germany clock comes “in stages, as planned from the start”. The project "will not be postponed". Rather, the Federal Ministry of Transport is working on accelerating the project. The previous government under Angela Merkel (CDU) had announced the introduction of a Germany cycle for the year 2030.

For the Deutschlandtakt, rail traffic is to be switched to a nationwide timetable that makes departure times more reliable and predictable for passengers and also makes it easier to change trains. The trains should run every hour in each direction at the same minute - long-distance trains every 60 minutes and on main axes every 30 minutes. Long-distance and regional transport should also be optimally networked with each other.

In their coalition agreement, the traffic light parties have defined, among other things, the goal of increasing rail freight traffic to 25 percent by 2030 and doubling the volume of passenger traffic. In addition, "considerably more is to be invested in rail than in road" "in order to implement projects of a Germany cycle as a priority".

The Ministry of Transport emphasized on Thursday that the Deutschlandtakt is an "ongoing project that is constantly being developed and adapted to the modernization of the rail network". Each stage brings "new leaps in supply and significant improvements for travelers and logisticians".

The next major stage will be completed with the completion of the new Wendlingen-Ulm, Stuttgart 21 line and the general renovation of the Riedbahn in 2025/2026. You will bring about the 30-minute cycle between the major cities of Cologne, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Munich and Nuremberg. The next stage in 2030 is already being prepared.

The transport policy spokesman for the Union faction in the Bundestag, Thomas Bareiß (CDU), explained that the Union, together with the rail industry, laid the foundation for the Germany cycle early on - now this will be postponed from 2030 to 2070. That is “the admission that the traffic light has failed”.

The rapporteur for the Union faction for rail, Michael Donth (CDU), was "stunned". A shift in the Germany clock to 2070 "would be a disaster for the future of German rail transport".

Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) must, instead of arguing with the Greens about motorways, solve the problems with the rails: significantly more investments, a more efficient group, planning acceleration for rail projects and the implementation of the results of the Rail Acceleration Commission, demanded Donth.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bahn increased the basic salary of its managers at the beginning of the year and changed the bonus program, as reported by Business Insider, citing internal documents. Accordingly, at the end of last year, the Group Board of Management introduced a new salary structure for senior management (OFK). This envisages “concrete improvements” in the payment of the 3000 executives as of January 1st.

According to the report, the confidential files show that Deutsche Bahn has increased managers' base salaries by up to 14 percent. In return, bonuses that depend on financial success are to be reduced. The modified bonus system therefore provides for the proportion of short-term bonuses to decrease, but the Management Board has expanded the long-term variable remuneration for many executives. The salary should be “more reliable, more crisis-proof and therefore more attractive”. "Business Insider" quotes from internal letters with which the managers were asked to sign change agreements last fall. There it says: "This means that your total remuneration will be significantly more predictable and will increase."

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