German Railways lose smalls to road
Page 24
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
from a German correspondent
• Although the German Federal Railways — Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) — just about broke even last year on the transport of large freight, they incurred a loss of DM900,000 (£150,000) on small freight and DM1,200m (£200m) on local passenger transport. The DB lost DM2,500na (£416m) in all last year. Yet this year the first new stretch of railway track to be built for 97 years has been opened.
Since then the Government has approved the first step of a new transport programme envisaging the expenditure of DM120,000m by 1985. And autobahn building is proceeding apace: 1200 kilometres are under construction to add to the existing 5258 kilometres, and the road programme will account for more than half of the expenditure on the transport programme.
The title of the transport guidelines of Transport Minister Latuitz Lauritzen is "Der Mensch Hat Vorfahrt" ("Human beings come first") and all the new transport systems being brought in or investigated by German cities have "Unweltfreundlich" in common — that is they are friendly to the environment. The aim is to put more large freight on rail — but it is admitted that more of the smaller items may have to go by road.