Prices exploded: Study: State billions of fuelled costs in rail network construction

Into the maraudous German rail network billions flow. At the same time, the costs in the sector explode massively. A researcher suspects that the industry increased its own margins and could collect so much public money.

A recent study reveals that billions of investments in the railways had little effect on the rehabilitation of the rail network. Quite the contrary: they drive construction prices into record spheres.

The additional billions that the federal government has made available to the railway in recent years have hardly accelerated the renovation of the rail network. Instead, they have primarily driven up prices in the construction and railway industries, according to a study by the Ifo Institute led by railway expert Felix Berschin, reported on by the "Tagesspiegel" (Thursday edition). This is particularly controversial because the railway is curre…