About 40% of the freight volume of German railways comes from transit transportation. Due to Germany's special geographical position, German railways once played an important role in the east-west transit transportation. After the reunification of Germany, this role was restored. By 1987, Germany had formed a modern highway network system with a mileage of 4 1700 km, reasonable layout and high density.
However, since the mid-1950s, the railway in West Germany began to lose money, reaching 1992, which has become a heavy burden for the government. 1989, the government railway commission studies the reform plan. After nearly two years' research, the 10 scheme is put forward, which combines the West German railway with the East German railway to establish a state-owned railway joint-stock company, then transforms the joint-stock company into a holding company, and finally realizes privatization. 1993 The Cabinet, the Senate and the House of Representatives passed and formulated the Basic Law Amendment and the New Railway Order Law, which came into effect on 1994 and 1.
The first stage of reform (from 1994 to 1998) was mainly the merger of railways, and deutsche bahn ag, which was wholly owned by the federal government, was established, with four financially independent lines, freight, long-distance passenger transport and regional passenger transport divisions. In the second stage, starting from 1999, deutsche bahn ag will be transformed into five wholly-owned subsidiaries of passenger transport companies (including long-distance passenger transport companies and regional passenger transport companies), freight transport companies, station service companies, line companies and real estate companies.
At present, the railway control system of the German federal government can be divided into two levels. The first level is the federal department of transportation, which is responsible for supervising federal transportation, construction, housing and other affairs. The Ministry of Communications consists of the Ministry of Railways, which is divided into the Basic Issues Research Department, the Legislative Department, the Asset Management Department, the Operation Management Department, the Investment Project Planning Department and the Comprehensive Liaison Department. The Railway Department of the Ministry of Communications is mainly responsible for the examination and approval of railway legislation, railway development planning and national investment projects. There are two institutions at the second level, one is the Federal Railway Administration and the other is the Federal Railway Assets Bureau.
The Federal Railway Administration is an independent administrative agency under the Ministry of Communications, which controls the Federal Railway at the first level, with 1 agency, mainly including comprehensive department, construction department, locomotive and rolling stock operation department, investment management department, financial management department, accident investigation and handling department, legal department, etc. The main responsibilities include six aspects: formulating road network planning, determining and approving the line planning of various railway companies; Review the financing plan of railway company's road network, and supervise and review the use of funds during the construction period; Control the operation license of the federal railway, supervise the rational use of the road network, take a stand, and make a ruling on the application for using the railway to engage in business activities or close railway facilities; Conduct railway supervision, including technical supervision and appraisal of railway operation equipment and rolling stock, and supervise the construction process of operation equipment of Federal Railway Company; Responsible for the approval and revision of applications for new equipment, new technologies and new standards; Responsible for the investigation and handling of railway traffic accidents. The Federal Railway Assets Bureau is mainly responsible for the disposal of historical debts of German railways, the management of special assets in Berlin and other places, and the pension payment of civil servants among German railway workers before the reform.
The German government's support policy for railway reform can be summarized in five aspects: First, the German railway company has been freed from the "federal universal obligation" and transformed from a public authority that performs management functions into a large-scale service company that faces the market independently and operates according to private enterprises; Second, the federal government has the responsibility to invest in the construction, reconstruction and expansion of the federal railway network; Third, through the establishment of the Federal Railway Assets Bureau, it is responsible for the disposal of historical debts and the management of special assets; Fourth, the federal government allocates funds to state governments every year for local governments to purchase public welfare short-distance passenger service subsidies; Fifth, adjust public railway transportation through tax leverage, and gradually solve the problem of tax fairness and equal competition.
Another important experience of German railway reform is to legislate first to protect the railway reform. Before the German railway reform began, firstly, the Parliament and the government passed a series of laws and regulations on railway reform, including amending the Basic Law and promulgating a new railway order law. The new railway order law is the general name of a series of laws needed to realize railway reform, mainly including the Federal Railway Merger and Reorganization Law, the Deutsche Bahn Corporation Establishment Law, the Ordinary Railway Law, the Federal Railway Traffic Control Law, the Federal Railway Line Expansion Law, the Short-distance Passenger Localization Law, and the Township Public Transport Financing Law. The promulgation and implementation of these laws and regulations not only stipulated the objectives, tasks and implementation steps of German railway reform, but also stipulated principles for a series of issues such as railway reorganization, financial guarantee for construction investment, source of funds for line maintenance, treatment of old debts, management and medical security of civil servants and retirees, railway management institutions and government regulation, and authority of railway companies, which laid a solid legal foundation for railway reform.