Key priorities: ten stated aims, and the evidence behind each

Stated

At the ministry handover on 29 July 2026 he summed up his approach in one line: Verkehrsinfrastruktur muss für die Menschen da sein ("Transport infrastructure must be there for people", translation). In his first budget speech on 8 September he named about €170 billion of transport investment up to 2030 and, according to the Bundestag's report, said "Deutschland kann Infrastruktur" (Germany can do infrastructure). He closed by saying the government was investing genau da, wo es jetzt zählt: in die Lebensrealität der Menschen vor Ort ("exactly where it counts now: in people's everyday lives where they live").

Stated

To Bild on 9 August: Ich will, dass wir eine spürbare Verbesserung bei der Bahn erreichen, was die Pünktlichkeit anbelangt. ("I want us to achieve a noticeable improvement in rail punctuality." Translation.) He tied rail managers' bonuses to the federal targets, and told the Bundestag that a line closed for months muss sie danach spürbar besser funktionieren ("must work noticeably better afterwards"). To Der Spiegel he called the 70 per cent target for 2029 "ziemlich ambitioniert" (quite ambitious) given the maintenance backlog.

Stated

New motorway financing is the clearest road priority. In September he called the plan to let Die Autobahn GmbH borrow money a Paradigmenwechsel (paradigm shift); after the cabinet approved it on 7 October, the ministry reported him saying that repairs and new construction would proceed more reliably and quickly, on the principle that whatever is ready to build gets built. On 15 September he welcomed the federal approval of plans for the second Rhine bridge on the B 293 between Wörth and Karlsruhe as an important step the region was waiting for.

Stated

His first statement as minister asked for einen pragmatischen, realistischen Blick auf die Verkehrspolitik ("a pragmatic, realistic view of transport policy", 29 July). He has defended the Deutschlandticket as "weiterhin ein sehr attraktives Angebot" (still a very attractive offer) despite the price rise, said DB's abolition of family seat reservations rightly caused dissatisfaction and that the ministry was "in talks" with DB about it, and rejected a general speed limit in favour of variable limits.

Stated

On 28 August the ministry added €84 million for single-wagon rail freight, bringing 2026 support to €384 million; Bilger described it as an important pillar of competitive rail freight. Announcing federal and state measures against low water on the Rhine on 12 August 2026, he said: Resilienz entsteht nicht über Nacht. ("Resilience does not happen overnight." Translation.) Logistics is familiar ground: from 2018 to 2021 he was the federal government's coordinator for freight transport and logistics.

Stated

Launching funding for pioneer freight trains with Digital Automatic Coupling on 4 September, he called the coupling eine bedeutende Modernisierung für den Schienengüterverkehr ("a significant modernisation for rail freight", translation). On autonomous driving (31 August): Autonomes Fahren bietet die Chance, Mobilität neu zu denken. ("Autonomous driving offers the chance to rethink mobility.") The ministry also set up a steering committee and appointed a head for its ERTMS coordination office.

Stated

He frames transport investment in industrial terms. On electricity-based aviation fuel (21 September): eSAF ist für mich nicht nur eine Frage der Klimapolitik, sondern auch eine industriepolitische Chance. ("For me, eSAF is not only a question of climate policy but also an industrial-policy opportunity." Translation.) The ministry quoted him saying the electric-truck charging network strengthens the competitiveness of German logistics.

Stated

Several early appearances were regional: the start of work on the Kachlet double lock on the Danube near Passau (3 August), a summer-tour visit to the Rader Hochbrücke over the Kiel Canal, the B 293 Rhine bridge and the Kiel Canal fee abolition. The autonomous-driving programme, according to the ministry, aims among other things at public transport in rural areas.

Stated

To the Berliner Morgenpost on 14 September: Mein Ziel ist, dass der Verkehrssektor nicht mehr das Sorgenkind der Klimapolitik ist. ("My aim is that the transport sector is no longer the problem child of climate policy." Translation.) Press releases since August cover €70 million for green inland-waterway corridors, up to €14 million for zero-emission inland vessels, the truck charging network, eSAF, and €25.6 million for cleaner ground power at airports.