Transformation into a high-performance network
General modernizations
In June 2022, the BMDV and DB Group presented plans for a new high-performance network to sustainably increase the quality and reliability of the infrastructure. The high-performance network is to include the most highly utilized rail connections in Germany. Due to the forecasted traffic development, it will span more than 9,000 km in length by the end of the decade.
In September 2023, the Federal Government and DB Group presented a major infrastructure program for the rail network and stations at the Rail Summit of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr; BMDV). The target is to make train services more punctual in the long term and to create the conditions for achieving the transport policy goals in passenger and freight transport.
One instrument on the way to achieving this are general modernizations, which, as part of a full closure lasting several months, all outdated and fault-prone facilities are replaced, the performance capability of the facilities is increased, stations are holistically designed and construction work in the modernized section is thus to be avoided for several years:
- Fault-resistant systems should ensure a more reliable infrastructure and thus increase punctuality for our customers.
- Optimal, standardized track equipment should increase the level of performance of the infrastructure.
- Improved customer experience through attractive and accessible stations.
- Reducing future transport restrictions to a minimum and creating more predictability for our customers.
The pilot project for the general modernization of highly utilized sections of line is the Riedbahn. From 2025 on the Emmerich — Oberhausen section and between August 2025 and April 2026 the general modernization of Hamburg —
Berlin will follow. One of the most frequented passenger transport lines and an important freight transport axes is, therefore, set to become one of the most modern and high-performance lines in Germany.
The further sequences of the corridors up to 2028 have already been published in accordance with European directives (Annex VII). DB InfraGO is obliged, under these directives, to notify the parties entitled to network access of capacity restrictions on the network in advance. Restrictions that take effect in 2028 had, therefore, to be presented for the first time by October 31, 2024.
The basic goal is to keep the impact of the construction work on traffic as low as possible for all customers. In addition to traffic assessments, experience from previous general modernizations is also incorporated in the planning.
High-performance maintenance
Another integral building block for the transformation of the track infrastructure to a high-performance network is a new maintenance strategy (“High-performance maintenance”). DB InfraGO intends to focus on three main pillars in future: sustainable prevention, digital maintenance and fast fault clearance. This is aimed at reducing technical disruptions and minimizing their impact on customers in passenger and freight transport.
- As part of sustainable prevention, DB InfraGO intends to proactively and periodically maintain the network in future using data-based and intelligent life cycle models.
- Through use of vehicle and infrastructure-related sensors and reliable forecasts of developments of faults, digital maintenance should enable faults to be detected in advance and rectified before they occur. Digitalization should help to make maintenance faster, more reliable and more predictable.
- Increased stock levels and optimized on-call personnel levels should enable faster fault clearance in the event of unplanned outages – with a focus on railway crossings. In regional control centers, diagnostic messages can also be monitored in the best possible way and translated into specific recommendations for action.
We expect the ramp-up of the high-performance maintenance, which has already begun in 2024, to lead to noticeable improvements in the availability of the high-performance network. The preventive maintenance budget was increased by € 2.0 billion in the period of 2024 to 2033 to implement the high-performance maintenance.