German auditors find "serious problems" in Deutsche Bahn renovations

Germany’s Federal Court of Auditors has found significant shortcomings in Deutsche Bahn’s renovation of heavily used rail lines, according to a report to the Bundestag’s Budget Committee, the German Press Agency (dpa) reported.

Costs and broken promises by DB

The German railway company, Deutsche Bahn (DB), plans to renovate heavily used rail lines are running into problems as costs are rising considerably on some of the first corridor renovation projects completed, Germany’s Federal Court of Auditors found in a report to the Bundestag’s Budget Committee. These renovations aim to bring the heavily used rail lines up to standard within the next few years by closing them for months at a time and rebuilding them from the ground up.

Earlier cost-benefit analyses were “flawed and unreliable” and rail division DB InfraGO is largely failing to keep its promises. The Federal Ministry of Transport did not dispute the findings; instead, it confirmed shortcomings in the analyses and in checking whether the projects succeed.

One broken promise concerns how long a line should stay free of major construction after renovation. Deutsche Bahn cut this from ten years to five, and the report says it is still not being met because of follow-up work and defect repairs.

Change is wanted and called for

Germany’s public spending watchdogs, the Federal Court of Auditors, say “consistent corrective action” is essential if the corridor renovations are to move forward. It wants the Federal Ministry of Transport to prove the cost-effectiveness and success of the renovations in line with budget law and to fix the shortcomings identified. The economic case must also be shown separately for each renovation.

According to the auditors, there is no sound basis for decisions on the billions being invested in the programme. The Budget Committee also lacks the information it needs to carry out its budgetary and oversight responsibilities. 

The programme is being scaled back as the DB and the federal government announced that fewer lines will be renovated over the next five years than originally planned. After some completed renovations were followed by delays, train services will also return gradually once construction ends, rather than all resuming on a set date as before.