Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla says the worst phase of the ‘unchecked ageing’ of Germany’s rail infrastructure may be over, but the path to a modern rail network remains ‘long’. More than €124 billion is still needed to cover the investment backlog across DB rail infrastructure and stations.

There will have been some relief at Deutsche Bahn that its infrastructure backlog numbers are finally moving in the right direction, but as new DB CEO Evelyn Palla said this week, there is still a long way to go before Germany has a fully modern rail network.

Her statement follows the release of DB InfraGO’s 2025 status report on Thursday, 7 May 2026. Assessing around 291,000 rail network assets and more than 90,000 station assets, from tracks and switches to escalators and passenger information systems, the figures do show some improvement.

According to Germany’s infrastructure manager, condition-based renewal needs across the rail network fell by nearly €4bn between 2024 and 2025. Meanwhile, the backlog at passenger stations dropped from €20.3bn to €18.6bn. Together, those figures put the remaining need across network infrastructure and stations at around €124.5bn.

But as Palla pointed out, that still leaves a huge funding gap at a time when DB is facing pressure over the deterioration of the network. The push to upgrade Germany’s rail infrastructure is also feeding into major construction disruption across the system.

DB says decline has stabilised

In practice, the improvement has more to do with DB’s major infrastructure problems beginning to stabilise than with any full recovery. Using a German school-style grading system from one to six, where lower scores indicate better condition, DB InfraGO said the average overall condition rating for the national rail network remained unchanged from 2024 at a 3.00, which Palla called ‘a sign that the turnaround has not yet been completed’.

However, there was a notable increase in the share of good and high-quality assets, with around 58% of network assets, weighted by replacement value, rated in the two best categories in 2025.

DB CEO Evelyn Palla highlighted that major hurdles remained: ‘Many facilities and stations are still in poor condition. Therefore, we must continue to modernise and renew consistently. The path to a modern rail network is still long.’

She added that it was now ‘crucial’ that the public sector ‘continues to provide sufficient funding so that we can reduce the investment backlog as quickly as possible.’

What brought down the backlog?

To illustrate what it took to begin bringing the network back into check, DB InfraGO invested around €19.9bn in maintenance and replacement investment in 2025, nearly €4bn more than in the previous year. According to the infrastructure manager’s chief executive, that prevented further deterioration despite the average age of assets continuing to rise.

As DB InfraGO CEO Philipp Nagl said, ‘These investments are paying off. The increased construction volumes resulted in a lower figure for the renewal needs of assets rated as poor, inadequate, and restrictive for the first time in years.’

To move these numbers, DB launched a major construction programme in 2025. This included the renewal of around 1,900 kilometres of track and 1,900 switches, as well as the renovation of 103 bridges with a total area of around 25,000 square metres. Technical teams also modernised 3,700 signalling and safety-control units. Work was carried out at more than 950 stations, including the replacement or renewal of more than 250 lifts and escalators. An additional €1bn in federal funding was made available for particularly complex bridges and modern signalling and safety technology.

Boost for bridges but superstructure slips

While structural assets such as bridges saw slight statistical gains, they remain a major pressure point. DB InfraGO identified 1,920 bridges in need of renewal, carrying a price tag of nearly €31bn. Signal boxes also improved slightly, but remained the worst-rated asset class. Around 2,026 signal boxes, or about 55 percent of the assessed stock, are in need of renewal, accounting for €36.7bn, the largest single contributor to the condition-based network backlog.

One of the more worrying trends in the report was the deterioration of the track superstructure, the tracks and switches that define daily operations. While other areas stabilised, the condition of the track assets themselves took a turn for the worse. DB InfraGO said the deterioration was reflected in an increase in fault reports, speed restrictions and inspection findings, all of which affected the score.

Roughly 9,600km of track now sit on the renewal list, valued at around €10.5bn. Perhaps most concerning for passengers is that urgent renewal needs grew to 1,370km. While this represents only around 2 percent of the network, it shows that the general stabilisation of the network condition has not yet translated into improvement across the assets most directly affecting service reliability.

The report also reinforces a clear geographical divide. Eastern German states, which saw extensive modernisation following the reunification, continue to outperform the rest of the country. Meanwhile, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s industrial heartland, once again recorded the weakest overall infrastructure score in the country.

Allianz pro Schiene: backlog still ‘huge’

In response to the status report, German rail association Allianz pro Schiene said that while it offered a ‘glimmer of hope’, the remaining backlog was still a ‘huge sum’ that demands a more systematic reduction. Dirk Flege, the association’s managing director, argued that despite record spending last year, investment still does not cover the network’s total need.

He warned that a ‘different approach’ was required, as delays and disruptions would remain inevitable if assets in urgent need of renewal could not be replaced quickly or if expansion projects were postponed ‘indefinitely’ because of funding shortages.

After being ‘neglected for decades’, he added, the German rail network could not be made healthy overnight, but he stressed that the federal government now needs ‘staying power and a sound plan’. The government therefore has to maintain a high level of investment and prepare for ‘a marathon’ if rail in Germany is to continue making progress, he said. ‘A sound plan means that record investments can’t be a one-off.’

Figure 1

Figure 2

Further reading: Deutsche Bahn reports €2.3bn loss, long-distance punctuality drops to 60% – Railway Gazette