Environmental organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) has called on Germany’s federal government to commit to full electrification of the country’s rail network by 2035.
Currently, less than two thirds (62.5%) of Germany’s rail network is electrified, leaving the remaining segments dependent on diesel locomotives. In 2024, this resulted in more than 340,000 tonnes of diesel being consumed by Germany‘s rail network, equivalent to around eight million diesel cars.
DUH has also called for a ‘substantial expansion’ of overhead lines across Germany’s rail network, saying that this will help to increase capacity, improve punctuality and reduce operating costs.
Keeping on track
“The diesel engines of trains pollute the air with particulate matter and nitrogen oxides – especially in train stations – and harm the climate,” commented Jürgen Resch, managing director of DUH. “Switching to HVO 100 will not change this, but will merely perpetuate the railway’s dependence on combustion engines. Immature and expensive hydrogen propulsion systems are also not a solution.”
As Resch added, by transitioning to 100% electrification across Germany’s rail network, the country will be able to ensure that rail travel is “climate-friendly, efficient, and resilient”.
DUH has urged Transport Minister Volker Schnieder to present a detailed roadmap for nationwide electromobility by 2035, secure the necessary funding, and integrate said targets into the federal budget.
“We need more overhead lines, not excuses,” said Resch. “Only then will the railway become the backbone of the mobility transition.”
‘Gap-closing’ projects
The DUH has identified ten ‘gap-closing’ projects where it deems electrification essential, including important border crossings and heavily used commuter routes.
These include cross-border connections such as Dresden–Görlitz–Horka and Münster–Gronau, as well as the Lake Constance Belt Railway (Radolfzell–Friedrichshafen), the Nahe Valley Railway (Gau-Algesheim–Neubrücke), and the Zollernalb Railway (Tübingen–Sigmaringen).
In the case of the Dresden-Görlitz-Horka line, for example, overhead lines have been in place on the Polish side for several years, but almost 100 kilometres of infrastructure is still missing on the German side. Read more here and here.
