Subsidising new rail infrastructure from “more than one pot” using the example of the S4 Hamburg – Bad Oldesloe

The initial situation

Local transport benefits alone are not always sufficient to demonstrate the economic benefits of an investment in rail infrastructure.

For the expansion of the Hamburg – Bad Oldesloe line for suburban railway operation, it is not possible to demonstrate sufficient benefit for subsidisation under the GFVG (German “Municipal Transport Financing Act”), even with a minimal amount of additional infrastructure. However, long-distance passenger transport and freight transport (including the Fehmarn Belt crossing) benefit from the expansion project in addition to local transport, so that it was appropriate to include these effects in the proof of benefits.

The concrete task

Develop a methodology for the non-overlapping determination of benefits in local transport on the one hand and long-distance passenger rail transport / freight transport on the other hand.

Our solution

Mixed uses of the infrastructure require mixed financing of the infrastructure

Benefits of the results

Mixed financing of rail infrastructure projects possible under German funding law