Focus of Working Group

Approximately 15,000 km of railway lines were taken out of service in Germany between 1955 and 2019, but in recent decades there have been several examples throughout the country of their successful reinstatement. There is still considerable potential for the reinstatement of further lines, an idea that is gaining in importance against the backdrop of the climate crisis and the mobility transition. In 2020, Allianz Pro Schiene (a German association promoting rail transport) and the Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen (a public transport trade association) presented a list (in German) proposing the reinstatement of 238 lines spanning a total of 4,016 km.

The existing practice of standardised assessments of transport investment in local public rail transport has repeatedly proven to be an obstacle to the reinstatement of disused lines. This standardised assessment, which was developed mainly for lines in metropolitan areas, has been criticised for some time, especially with respect to rail infrastructure in rural regions. For this reason, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport recently introduced new assessment criteria (in German) whereby ‘in particular climate protection, environmental protection, shifts in mobility patterns, and aspects of public service provision’ should be given ‘stronger weighting than previously’. This change also shows that reinstating rail lines is not purely a transport planning issue. Instead, the diverse aspects of local and regional development should weighted more strongly. For example, the Deutsche Städte- und Gemeindebund (DStGB), an interest group representing German cities and municipalities, states that ‘good rail connections make towns and cities attractive’ and are ‘a real alternative to cars, especially for commuters and young people at the beginning of their career’. Moreover, the DStGB sees ‘clear benefits for local business and tourism, which also contribute to the goal of equivalent living conditions’. The intergovernmental commission on equivalent living conditions also recommended that the federal states focus more on reinstating rail lines.

Main focus of work and key questions

The Working Group will examine the reinstatement of rail lines beyond its importance for the mobility transition, also considering its significance and impact on integrated spatial development. The Working Group will address the following key questions:

• How can the reinstatement of rail lines help to establish equivalent living conditions?
• How can the reinstatement of rail lines help with the mobility transition in passenger and freight transport and with reorienting mobility in the affected regions?
• What stimulus will reinstatement provide to rural residential areas, commercial areas, tourism, economic development, and other aspects of regional development?
• Along reinstated lines, how much will lower-order (small) and middle-order (mid-sized) centres, and the connections between them, be strengthened?
• What stimulus will reinstated lines provide for local and urban development in the vicinity of reinstated stations?
• What have the experiences been with the revised standardised assessment of rail infrastructure plans, and how should it be improved for the purposes of integrated spatial development?
• How can spatial planning law and railway law secure the routes of disused lines for future reinstatement plans?
• What are the practical obstacles to reinstatement?

Approach and desired results

The Working Group is organised on an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary basis to gather theoretical and practical insights into the aforementioned key questions. In addition to providing in-depth answers to the individual questions, their interrelationships will also be given special attention. The results will also be presented in summary format. Moreover, in order to focus on the level of action needed, various regions will be examined as case studies. The results are to be documented in an ARL Research Report, journal articles, and a position paper addressing policymakers.

Header image by Tom Barrett from Unsplash