Editing Transport in Germany (section)

===Overview===
{{main|Rail transport in Germany|History of rail transport in Germany}}
[[File:DeutscheBahn gobeirne.jpg|thumb|[[ICE 3]] train at [[Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof]]]]
Germany features a total of 43,468&nbsp;km railways, of which at least 19,973&nbsp;km are electrified (2014).<ref name=ciafactbook>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/germany/ |title=CIA World Facebook: Germany}}</ref>

[[Deutsche Bahn]] (German Rail) is the major German railway infrastructure and service operator. Though Deutsche Bahn is a private company, the government still holds all shares and therefore Deutsche Bahn can still be called a state-owned company. Since its reformation under private law in 1994, Deutsche Bahn no longer publishes details of the tracks it owns; in addition to the DBAG system there are about 280 privately or locally owned railway companies which own an approximate 3,000&nbsp;km to 4,000&nbsp;km of the total tracks and use DB tracks in ''open access''.

Railway subsidies amounted to €17.0 billion in 2014<ref>{{cite web |title= German Railway Financing |url= https://www.deutschebahn.com/file/de/2192370/2RLvPOzueXgX19CucGFn4Wofp5E/2267530/data/finanz_eisenbahn_dtl.pdf |page= 2 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160310165357/https://www.deutschebahn.com/file/de/2192370/2RLvPOzueXgX19CucGFn4Wofp5E/2267530/data/finanz_eisenbahn_dtl.pdf |archive-date= 2016-03-10 }}</ref> and there are significant differences between the financing of long-distance and short-distance (or local) trains in Germany. While long-distance trains can be run by any railway company, the companies also receive no subsidies from the government. Local trains however are subsidised by the German states, which pay the operating companies to run these trains and indeed in 2013, 59% of the cost of short-distance passenger rail transport was covered by subsidies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/BNetzA/Areas/Railways/Downloads/RailwayMarketAnalysis2014.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1 |title=Market Analysis: German Railways 2014 |access-date=2015-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127032909/http://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/EN/BNetzA/Areas/Railways/Downloads/RailwayMarketAnalysis2014.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1 |archive-date=2015-11-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This resulted in many private companies offering to run local train services as they can provide cheaper service than the state-owned Deutsche Bahn. Track construction is entirely and track maintenance partly government financed both for long and short range trains.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} On the other hand, all rail vehicles are charged track access charges by [[DB Netz]] which in turn delivers (part of) its profits to the federal budget.

High speed rail started in the early 1990s with the introduction of the Inter City Express (ICE) into revenue service after first plans to modernize the rail system had been drawn up under the government of [[Willy Brandt]]. While the high speed network is not as dense as those of France or Spain, ICE or slightly slower (max. speed 200&nbsp;km/h) Intercity (IC) serve most major cities. Several extensions or upgrades to high speed lines are under construction or planned for the near future, some of them after decades of planning.

The fastest high-speed train operated by Deutsche Bahn, the [[InterCityExpress]] or ICE connects major German and neighbouring international centres such as [[Zürich]], [[Vienna]], [[Copenhagen]], [[Paris]], [[Amsterdam]] and [[Brussels]]. The rail network throughout Germany is extensive and provides services in most areas. On regular lines, at least one train every two hours will call even in the smallest of villages during the day. Nearly all larger metropolitan areas are served by [[S-Bahn]], [[Rapid transit in Germany#U-Bahn|U-Bahn]], [[Trams in Germany|Straßenbahn]] and/or bus networks.

The German government on 13 February 2018 announced plans to make public transportation free as a means to reduce road traffic and decrease air pollution to EU-mandated levels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/14/german-cities-to-trial-free-public-transport-to-cut-pollution|title=German cities to trial free public transport to cut pollution|last=Oltermann|first=Philip|date=2018-02-14|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref> The new policy will be put to the test by the end of the year in the cities of [[Bonn]], [[Essen]], [[Herrenberg]], [[Reutlingen]] and [[Mannheim]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/morgen-europa/politico-morgen-europa-freie-offis-gegen-schlechte-luft-neues-zum-spitzenkandidatenprozess-in-eigener-sache/|title=POLITICO Morgen Europa: Freie Öffis gegen schlechte Luft — Neues zum Spitzenkandidatenprozess — In eigener Sache|date=2018-02-13|work=POLITICO|access-date=2018-02-15|language=en-US}}</ref> Issues remain concerning the costs of such a move as ticket sales for public transportation constitute a major source of income for cities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/kostenloser-nahverkehr-so-teuer-wie-eine-elbphilharmonie-pro-jahr-a-1193400.html|title=Kostenloser Nahverkehr: Allein in Hamburg so teuer wie eine Elbphilharmonie pro Jahr|date=2018-02-14|work=Spiegel Online|access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref>{{update inline|date=November 2023}}