For decades Deutsche Bahn is in crisisbut after the last federal election there was suddenly a spirit of optimism. Freshly in office, the then Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer promised a golden age: in 2030 twice as many people will travel by train, said the CSU politician.
Many observers wondered in disbelief how this would work, given the dilapidated rail network. The answer was provided by the then head of rail infrastructure, Ronald Pofalla: with digitalization. By switching to digital signal boxes and radio signals with the European ETCS system for train control, a third more trains could run on the ICE network in the 2020s, Pofalla said in 2019 – and without a single meter of new track. By 2035, the entire rail network will have been digitized, Pofalla explained a year later.
But now Deutsche Bahn is saying goodbye to the rapid digitalization of train control. At its meeting this Wednesday, the supervisory board is to decide on a new signal box strategy. The corresponding template for the company’s controllers has been made available to the Tagesspiegel.
Bahn is counting on quick successes
According to this, completely outdated mechanical interlockings and relay interlockings are to be increasingly replaced by electronic interlockings in the coming years – a technology from the 1990s that has many disadvantages compared to digital interlockings.
In view of of the big problems Philipp Nagl, head of the railway’s infrastructure subsidiary InfraGO, prefers to focus on quick successes with proven electronic technology rather than the complicated transition to fully digital train operations. Nagl wants to quickly increase the railway’s reliability and save up to 1,000 drivers by replacing many ancient signal boxes, some of which date back to the imperial era.
Over the next four years, the railway will be able to achieve very good results and save costs. But the taxpayer will pay for this decision over the next 20 years.
Criticism of a Insiders from public authorities on the change of course of the railway
After SWR first reported on the incident, The railway denied a change of courseThe company explained that it would still install electronic signal boxes in the 2020s, but presented it as if this had always been the plan.
This is contradicted by an internal instruction from the railway infrastructure subsidiary from 2021, which the Tagesspiegel has obtained. In principle, all projects should be converted to digital interlocking technology in an early planning phase, it says. In the future, the further development of safety technology will focus solely on digital technology. The fact that the railway is now deviating from this line has been causing dismay in the industry for weeks.
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“The decision follows a typical corporate view: Over the next four years, the railway can achieve a very good result and save costs. But the taxpayer will pay for this decision over the next 20 years,” say sources from the state railway authorities. InfraGO boss Nagl, however, does not consider the construction of electronic signal boxes to be a problem because they can also be used to introduce ETCS. The technology is considered a crucial lever for increasing capacity on the railways.
So far, a lot of capacity is wasted
Up to now, a lot of capacity has been wasted because, for safety reasons, only one train is allowed to stay in a specific section of track – the so-called blocks. With the widespread introduction of ETCS, the corresponding signals on the track could be eliminated. In the final expansion stage, every train will transmit the exact location of all carriages and the current speed at all times. This means that the trains would only have to maintain the braking distance.
However, in order to achieve up to 30 percent more capacity, electronic signal boxes work too slowly, according to transport authorities. “In comparison to digital signal boxes, electronic ones are also less redundant” – in other words, more prone to breakdowns.
In an internal chat with employees, railway boss Richard Lutz gave another reason for the stop signal for digitization. “In the railways worldwide, renewal and maintenance come before new construction and expansion,” wrote Lutz. “That is undisputed and that is also our priority.” In plain language, this means that since the federal government is not providing enough money, the railway needs the funds more urgently for the planned general renovation of 41 main routes.
