Germany: Transportation Network

Germany has a very modern transportation network. The country is known for its high-speed autobahns, efficient railroads, and busy ports.

Roads: Germany’s road network has a total length of 230,800 kilometers, including limited-access, high-speed autobahns (11,800 kilometers), federal highways (41,200 kilometers), ordinary roads (86,800 kilometers), and district roads (91,000 kilometers). In general, the network is modern, reflecting improvements to the antiquated roads in the East under the reconstruction program called Aufbau Ost (reconstruction of the East), which led to the construction or upgrade of 13,200 kilometers of federal highways or trunk roads by the end of 2001.

Railroads: Germany’s railroads, which total 44,400 kilometers in length, are well known for their efficiency. In 1994, four years after German reunification, the private Deutsche Bahn AG assumed control of the former Deutsche Bundesbahn in the West and the former Reichsbahn in the East. By the end of 2001, Germany had built or upgraded 5,800 kilometers of rail lines in the new states in the East under the Aufbau Ost program.
German trains carry passengers, freight, cars, and even trucks on special flatcars. In 1991 the railroads in the West began to introduce high-speed inter-city service. High-speed trains can travel as fast as 250 kilometers/hour. In addition, in 2005 Deutsche Bahn plans to build a magnetic levitation train service between Berlin and Hamburg using German-made technology known as “Maglev.”

Ports: Germany’s busiest port is Hamburg, which ranks ninth in the world in container traffic. The second largest port is Bremen/Bremerhaven, which ranks twenty-first in the world in container traffic. Hamburg, Bremen/Bremerhaven, and Wilhelmshaven are North Sea ports, while Luebeck and Rostock are Baltic Sea ports. The inland port along the Rhine and Ruhr Rivers in Duisburg is the world’s leading inland port.

Inland Waterways: Germany’s inland waterways are about 7,450 kilometers in length. Natural rivers account for about 39 percent of the network, dams control 38 percent, and canals constitute 23 percent. The Rhine River carries about two-thirds of inland waterways traffic.

Civil Aviation and Airports: Germany has 18 international airports. The largest airport is Frankfurt am Main. The German government is in the process of upgrading Berlin’s airport system, which reflects the city’s former Cold War division. The centerpiece of the plan is the construction of a new international airport, to be called Berlin-Brandenburg, by 2012. Berlin’s Tegel and Tempelhof airports will be closed between 2008 and 2010. Other major airports are located in Cologne, Dresden, Hamburg, Munich, and Stuttgart.

Germany’s largest air carrier is Lufthansa, which is owned by a publicly traded corporation.

Pipelines: Germany uses an extensive pipeline network, consisting of eight major pipelines connected to local distribution grids, to import natural gas. Several of these pipelines serve other European countries as well. In 2002 Germany imported 75 percent of its natural gas requirements.
Germany obtains most of its imported natural gas from Russia, Norway, and the Netherlands. Russia’s influence as a natural gas supplier is bound to increase since the Russian oil giant Gazprom began construction of an 1,197-kilometer-long underwater pipeline from Russia directly to Germany in September 2005. Construction of the pipeline, which has a capacity of 55 million cubic meters per year, should be completed in 2010.