Despite the establishment of the special infrastructure fund, Deutsche Bahn does not have enough money at its disposal to expand the rail network as planned during this legislative period.

This is the result of a response from the Federal Ministry of Transport to a request from the Green Party, which was reported by the "Tagesspiegel" (Friday edition). According to the report, the federal government will not provide enough funds to the railway between 2027 and 2029 to implement all projects in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan that are ready for construction. In 2027, the railway will be short by around 300 million euros, in 2028 by 538 million euros, and in 2029 by as much as 1.44 billion euros. "Despite special funds, new construction and expansion of rail is being slowed down," Matthias Gastel, rail policy spokesman for the Green Party, told the newspaper.

He criticized Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) for shifting investment funds for the railways previously earmarked in the transport budget to the special infrastructure fund. Schnieder is ignoring the clear requirement in the Basic Law "that investments in the special fund must be made additionally." For example, the funds for the maintenance of the railway network were transferred entirely to the special fund. The resulting flexibility is now being used to finance "expensive election campaign promises for the CSU," Gastel criticized. The limited funding available for new construction jeopardizes several prestigious rail projects. According to the report, construction of the new Mannheim-Frankfurt high-speed rail line could, among other things, begin in the middle of the legislative period. The planned expansion of the Franconia-Saxony Main Line between Nuremberg and Dresden, individual sections between Karlsruhe and Basel, the Paffensteig Tunnel in Stuttgart, and the expansion of the eastern corridor from the Port of Hamburg to Bavaria, which is relevant for freight trains, could also be ready for construction during this legislative period. According to information from the Green Party and state sources, the federal government and Deutsche Bahn have not reached a financing agreement for any of these construction projects, and there are no commitment authorizations in the budget. Given the limited funding available for new construction, many projects are now at risk of falling by the wayside.