Wissing: Railway has taken over for the EM - Network is overloaded
Twelve Million Travelers during the EM, Daily Three and a Half Million People in Local Transport: The Bahn was Strained During the Tournament - and Often Overloaded. Transport Minister Wissing Laments that Much of it did not Meet Germany's Standards. Massive Investments into the Network are Supposed to Improve the Situation.
The German Railway (Deutsche Bahn) has overcommitted itself in the eyes of Transport Minister Volker Wissing during the Football European Championship. "What some fans experienced does not meet Germany's standards and not the standard I have for our transportation infrastructure," he told "Welt am Sonntag" in a pre-release statement. "With the announcement that the DB would make 10,000 additional seating places in train transport available daily, they have taken on a challenge." The intention was good. However, the network cannot accommodate these additional capacities in its current state.
The frequent heavy rain during the first tournament weeks worsened the situation. "The network is not designed for such extreme weather conditions because the drainage systems cannot handle these water masses," said Wissing.
According to the railway, twelve million passengers have been on the move with ICE and IC trains since the start of the tournament, an additional 3.5 million have used local transport daily. Around 150,000 employees of the corporation have ensured that "millions of fans and teams could travel safely and reliably to the games," said Bahn-CEO Richard Lutz. This was "given the heavy strain on the railway due to extreme weather just before and during the EM a real feat."
Regarding punctuality in long-distance transport, the company drew a mixed balance. "We have extracted the maximum from the rail system," they stated. "However, the possibilities were limited by an outdated and overloaded infrastructure." In particular, on the North-South route, there were flood damages. At the end, several hundred ICE trains were rerouted daily.
"Unlucky Addition"
Bahn Infrastructure Director Berthold Huber explained: "We really did everything we could. We moved all construction sites that were not necessary, canceled some, to keep the infrastructure as unaffected as possible," he told Deutschlandfunk. But sometimes misfortune comes with misfortune. "We had the flood, which destroyed a dam more or less between Würzburg and Nuremberg for us."
This, however, does not change the fact that the railway must address structural issues such as infrastructure renewal. "One thing the Football European Championship has clearly shown," emphasized Huber. "That the infrastructure is clearly at the limit of its capacity, perhaps even beyond it."
The minister promised improvement. Starting on Monday, the sanitation of the so-called Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim, one of 41 heavily frequented corridors that are to be renovated in the coming years, begins. The tracks will be closed for construction work for months.
The construction industry expressed doubts that all lines can really be modernized by 2031. "The companies cannot make a realistic capacity planning up to now, as politics and DB are not united," said Tim-Oliver Müller, the CEO of the German Construction Industry Association, to "Welt am Sonntag". I am therefore "meanwhile quite sure that not all currently planned 41 corridor improvements will be completed by 2031". It is sensible to extend the entire project in terms of time.
The Federal Ministry of Transport has criticized German Railways' performance during the European Football Championship, with Transport Minister Volker Wissing stating that some fan experiences did not meet German standards. The Ministry aims to address these issues through massive investments into the transportation network.
Volker Wissing also mentioned that the heavy rain during the tournament further strained the railway system, as the network was not designed to handle such extreme weather conditions.
