But the delays are not the only problem. In 2023, Deutsche Bahn recorded a loss of €2.7 billion.
dilapidated infrastructure
there are still sections of track, switches, and signal boxes dating back to the 19th century.
In addition to the hundreds of millions needed for more German defense industry and equipment more money will be required for the German rail system too.
And like the USA, Germany has put off infrastructure maintenance.
A bridge collapse served as a wake-up call for Germany that it has pushed off investment in infrastructure for too long.
German governments, restrained by the country‘s constitutional ‚debt brake‘, have long ‚funded‘ generous gifts to those lobbying hardest (e.g. tax cuts for gastronomy) and favoured factions of the electorate (state pensions for retirees who never contributed) by cutting public infrastructure maintenance to the barebone - in fact running up a structural debt despite the debt brake.