Merz: Sale of Schenker, Bahn's daughter company, for infrastructure instead of household use
CDU Chief Friedrich Merz has demanded that the revenue from the sale of Deutsche Bahn's logistics subsidiary Schenker, despite the budget issues of the federal government, not be used for the general budget. "The money from this sale must then also be invested in the railway infrastructure and not in the federal budget," Merz said on Sunday in an ARD summer interview.
The Union also wants to separate the network and operation of the railway. "The network must remain in the hands of the state. The operation on the network can take place in competition," Merz said. Since the German Railways are also completely overburdened, politics must stop adding additional tasks, connections, and offers to them. "The railway must reduce its offer in order for the reduced offer to be reliably provided," Merz demanded. The money for the infrastructure maintenance must be provided by users and the state.
The railway is looking for buyers for its international logistics subsidiary and hopes for revenues in the billions. It sells Schenker to focus on the crisis-ridden core business in Germany. It wants to use the proceeds, for example, to reduce its debt mountain.
- Despite Merz's demand for the Schenker-Sale revenue to be utilized for rail infrastructure, there are plans to utilize the proceeds to reduce the German Railways' debt mountain.
- In line with Merz's suggestion, the revenue from the Schenker-Sale is earmarked not only for rail infrastructure but also aims to prevent the funds from being funneled into the federal budget.
- Merz, in his ARD summer interview, advocated for the Schenker-Sale revenue to be prioritized for improving rail infrastructure rather than being used to address budget issues within the federal government.
