With a “coalition agreement bingo”, the Berlin non-profit interest group of non-state rail companies in freight transport is creating a win-win situation. Among the winners of the game, the NEE is giving away an “exclusive ride on a locomotive on an official freight railway route”. But you can only win if you mark as many boxes as possible on the bingo sheet to complete a row. Each filled-in cross means: The German government has pushed through a positive decision for freight transport by rail.
The new federal government in Berlin is led by Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals. When they took office, the NEE had stated: The government’s coalition agreement contains many important plans for the promotion of rail transport. “In 2030, 25 percent of the transport service should be provided by the freight railways in an environmentally friendly way – today we are at 18 percent. To do this, the government alliance has to use many levers at the same time. In return, savings of several million tons of greenhouse gases are tempting.”
Apparently the plans and announcements are going in the right direction. That’s why the Association of Freight Railways now wants to put pressure on so that as many of the beautiful plans as possible are fulfilled as quickly as possible. That makes sense. Robert Habeck, the new German Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, stated on January 11, 2022 in his “opening balance sheet” on climate protection in Germany: “We are making every effort to make up for the deficit. To do this, we have to triple the speed of our emissions reduction and do a lot more in less time.” In order to achieve the goals, two major legislative packages are to be launched by summer 2022. All the essential legal framework conditions should be decided within one year.
The NEE would also like to see similarly rapid improvements for rail freight transport. And the participants in the NEE game can join in the excitement. Will the government permanently reduce rail freight costs up to 2030? Bingo – you may tick a box! Are terminals in combined transport and sidings getting more money from the state? Bingo! Can significantly more semi-trailers be loaded onto railway wagons with cranes than is currently the case? Bingo again! The crosses on the playing cards are added up at the end of the current legislative period in June 2025.
The bingo game is available for download at: https://www.netzwerk-bahnen.de/bingo and information on the German government program at: https://www.netzwerk-bahnen.de/wahl. And what, if the German government should realise its program? Then, if the NEE network has its way, the government coalition might fulfill NEE’s next wish: bring 35 percent of freight traffic onto rail by 2035…
Hermann Schmidtendorf, Editor-in-Chief
