In September 2024, the collapse of Dresden's Carola Bridge into the Elbe River highlighted Germany's longstanding issues with underinvestment in public infrastructure. Experts like Steffen Marx from Dresden University of Technology emphasize that decades of neglect have led to widespread problems across bridges, rail services, roads, and highways.
The new governing coalition plans to invest €500 billion to address these issues, but critics argue that without speeding up the planning and approval processes, the funds alone won't suffice.
Jörg Krämer, chief economist at Commerzbank, points out that the coalition's plans lack strategies to reduce bureaucratic delays, which can extend project approvals to five-10 years. Construction companies, as discussed at the German Road and Transport Congress in Bonn, have stressed the need for faster implementation and adoption of new technologies to overcome the country's infrastructure challenges.
This video summary was created by AI from the original DW script. It was edited by a journalist before publication.