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Germany clamours for EU transport cash

The Local Germany
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Germany clamours for EU transport cash
Goods trains stand in a marshalling yard in Brandenburg. Photo: DPA

Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt says centrally-located Germany should get a massive proportion of a new European fund for improving the continent's transport network.

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The Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reports that Dobrindt has applied for €2.8 billion out of the total fund of €26 billion, justifying the massive request through Germany's status as a “transit country”.

Germany makes “an important contribution for growth, prosperity and jobs in Europe” through its transport network, Dobrindt told the SZ.

“All member states across Europe benefit from high-performance roads, rails and waterways in Germany.”

He wants to use the largest amount Germany has ever requested from Brussels for transport to launch 30 different projects to improve Germany's railways, roads, waterways and harbours, with the vast majority - €2.5 billion – spent on rail.

With goods traffic within the EU expected to grow by 80 percent and passenger travel by 50 percent, European Commission bureaucrats want to strengthen nine critical routes across the continent by 2030.

Seven of those corridors, for which the EU will pay up to 40 percent of the construction costs, pass through Germany.

Citing sources in Brussels, the SZ said Germany has a good chance of receiving a large chunk of the subsidy money, as long as the government submits applications that genuinely improve European traffic circulation.

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