Transport sheet T.04
Track, switches, signals, bridges and stations: the physical railway is owned by the federal government through Deutsche Bahn and run by DB InfraGO. Since 2024 it has been renewed corridor by corridor in long full closures. In September 2026 that programme was slowed, and the new Federal Minister for Transport, Steffen Bilger, said publicly that he was "not at all satisfied" with it.
Section A — the permanent way
The rail network belongs to Deutsche Bahn AG, which in turn belongs entirely to the federal government. Article 87e of the Basic Law obliges the federal government to ensure that the network is maintained and expanded in the public interest.
Since 1 January 2024 the network and the stations have been run by a single DB subsidiary, DB InfraGO AG, formed by merging DB Netz and DB Station&Service. The "GO" stands for gemeinwohlorientiert, oriented towards the common good: the company is meant to serve the network rather than maximise profit. It manages about 33,400 kilometres of line and about 5,400 stations.
The federal government pays for replacement of existing infrastructure and for new lines; DB InfraGO plans and builds, and charges train operators for track access. Inside the Federal Ministry for Transport, the railways department (E) handles the network, including a project group for the Infraplan, while the budget and shareholdings department (H) manages the federal holding in DB and DB InfraGO. Train services and punctuality are covered on the rail sheet.
Corridor renovations
The concept, launched before Bilger took office, was to renew more than 40 heavily used corridors by 2036. Instead of spreading work over years of partial closures, each corridor is closed for several months and everything is replaced at once.
Bundle all due works on one corridor and arrange replacement buses and diversions.
Full closure for passenger and freight trains: five months on the Riedbahn, more than ten on Hamburg–Berlin.
Track, points, signals, overhead line, platforms and stations at once.
Test and approve control and safety systems, then reopen to traffic.
The pilot. 70 km, about 400 trains a day, closed from 15 July to 14 December 2024. One year later DB InfraGO reported:
The largest corridor so far, 278 km, closed from 1 August 2025. Planned to reopen at the end of April 2026; the northern section reopened on 15 May and through traffic resumed on 14 June 2026, about six weeks late.
Engineering press reported that testing, approval and commissioning of the control and safety systems, rather than the track work, determined the timetable.
Section B — September 2026
In August 2026 engineering press reported that DB InfraGO had revised its approach: fewer and reprioritised measures, sections reopening as they are finished, and more realistic scheduling of signal testing. On 10 September DB chief executive Evelyn Palla went further.
Palla said DB would cut the number of corridor renovations from four a year to two or three, leaving the 2036 end date for the programme open; she did not give a new one. Wir werden die Anzahl der Korridorsanierungen pro Jahr an das Finanzierungsvolumen anpassen
("We will adjust the number of corridor renovations per year to the funding available", translation), she said, and: Wir müssen besser priorisieren, wir müssen Bauen und Fahren besser verzahnen.
("We need to prioritise better and coordinate construction and operations better", translation.) ZDF reported that the revised concept was being coordinated with the Federal Ministry for Transport.
Bilger had already set the tone in his budget speech two days earlier, telling the Bundestag that if a line is closed for months, with hardship for commuters and freight, it must work noticeably better afterwards, and that implementation "must get considerably better" (translation). In an interview with Der Spiegel on 26 September he was blunter.
Mit der bisherigen Umsetzung der Korridorsanierungen … bin ich überhaupt nicht zufrieden.
"I am not at all satisfied with how the corridor renovations have been carried out so far." (translation)
Steffen Bilger, interview with Der Spiegel, 26 September 2026 — published by the BMV
In the same interview he said: Wir waren viel zu langsam bei der Planung, die Prozesse waren langwierig.
("We were far too slow in planning; the processes were lengthy", translation.) He backed the planning-acceleration legislation passed before he took office, the Infrastruktur-Zukunftsgesetz adopted by the Bundestag on 26 June 2026, which gives transport projects the status of an "overriding public interest" in approval procedures.
Planning and funding
Three instruments decide how much rail infrastructure can be renewed and in what order. One has arrived, one is pending, one is paying.
Published on 6 October 2026 and presented by Parliamentary State Secretary Ulrich Lange. For the first time it bundles the main rail infrastructure measures for 2026–2030: new and upgraded lines, electrification, corridor renovations, noise remediation, stations and smaller projects, plus municipal rail projects and coal-region investments. It is to be updated every year. Lange: Einfach den Schalter umlegen geht nicht.
("You can't just flip a switch", translation.)
A rail infrastructure fund intended to give multi-year financing security was among the unfinished items Bilger inherited, according to ZDF. As of 8 October 2026 it had not been created. Allianz pro Schiene called the Infraplan "the start of a system change" but criticised the absence of the fund.
The special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality provided €16.3 billion for maintaining the rail network in 2026 and €2.5 billion for ERTMS. In his budget speech Bilger said rail funding would rise by €300 million in 2027 and €1.8 billion in total by 2030. See infrastructure investment.
Industry demands
On 19 August 2026 the rail alliance Allianz pro Schiene, led by managing director Dirk Flege, set out five demands to the new minister. They are listed here as the association's position, not the ministry's:
The rail associations VDV and DVF also criticised the 2027 cuts as weakening reliability and planning security for rail freight. For the minister's response on punctuality and DB management, see rail; for road infrastructure, see infrastructure policy.