In this edition of our SektorReport Mobility 2023 Q3 we focus on the rail sector and in particular the rail infrastructure required for it. We examine the current developments in the market, show the importance of corporate transactions currently and analyze the acquisition of the medium-sized Colmar Technik S.p.A. in June 2023. by Salcef Group S.p.A., a global leader in rail infrastructure.

The latest developments with regard to increasing efforts to make mobility sustainable promote the neglected relevance of rail transport, as Volker Wissing (Federal Minister for Digital and Transport) himself recently said. As one of the cleanest means of mass transport, this will benefit from increasing demand in the coming decades. According to the Association of the German Railway Industry, rail transport in Europe is expected to take over a third of freight transport (compared to 18% today) and 16% of all passenger journeys (compared to 9% today).

However, after years of insufficient investment, most national rail networks are already overloaded, i.e. H. Demand for existing infrastructure capacity exceeds current supply. Therefore, programs are needed that ensure the expansion and modernization of the rail networks. Germany has already announced investments amounting to 40 billion by 2027. EUR provided to renovate the country's neglected rail infrastructure. In addition to the additional EUR 11.5 billion from the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV), there will be EUR 40 billion investments from the Federal Government's Climate and Transformation Fund (12.5 billion EUR), a “further increase of equity” (12.5 billion EUR) and financed by Deutsche Bahn itself, which will tax EUR 3 billion. The funds, described by Wissing as the “largest renovation and modernization program” in the history of Deutsche Bahn, will largely go towards the renovation of a number of busy railway lines, with the first work starting in January 2024 on the Riedbahn Frankfurt/M - Mannheim route should begin.

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