Repairs needed on 25,000 kilometres of German long-distance roads

Some 25,000 kilometres of long-distance roads in Germany need repairs, figures from the Transport Ministry showed on Friday.

A total of 13,600 kilometres on major federal roads – around 33% of the network – is in need of repair, the ministry said in response to a parliamentary query by The Left party seen by dpa.

On motorways, the figure was 11,000 kilometres, or around 19%.

On the railways, 17,285 kilometres of track and 1,156 bridges are in need of repair.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government has pledged to invest massively in infrastructure and has earmarked a special fund worth billions, financed by debt, for this purpose.

The data shows that the number of kilometres of track in need of repair has only decreased slightly from 17,585 kilometres in 2022, representing around 28% of the network.

The ministry did not provide a detailed answer to questions about the development of road conditions since 2022. It only referred to modernization measures completed on 212 bridge substructures on motorways in 2024.

The ministry pointed out that the category “in need of rehabilitation” for roads can mean anything from minor measures on the road surface to a “fundamental renewal.”

The Left lawmaker Bartsch criticized the current state of affairs. “Many of our transport routes are dilapidated, thousands of kilometres of them,” he told dpa.

“Of around 4,000 bridges, just 212 were modernized last year. At this snail’s pace, we need almost 20 years – just for the bridges.”

He said poor infrastructure is a disadvantage for German companies and a nuisance for citizens. “The federal government must act now,” Bartsch insisted.