After a lengthy budget-clearing session, the Budget Committee approved the 2026 federal budget and thereby set multi-billion-euro course targets for transport, infrastructure and the economy. However, institutes and associations criticize unclear investment items and sharply rising and further increasing track charges, and see risks for supply chains.
The new budget and its transport priorities
According to the Budget Committee's decision, the total volume of the 2026 federal budget rises to 524.54 billion euros. The transport appropriation stands at 27.90 billion euros, in third place. The corresponding individual budget is slightly smaller than in the government draft, because several items, due to new department reallocations, move to the newly created Digital Ministry. For the current year, 38.29 billion euros are planned.
The MPs also approved the revenue plans of several sovereign funds, including the Infrastructure and Climate Neutrality Special Fund. These funds are to provide double-digit billions for transport, energy and transformation projects in the coming year. Which programs will actually be translated into concrete planning, tendering and construction, however, remains to be seen.
High investment sums – and considerable uncertainties
The investments shown in the budget are only of limited relevance, according to the assessment by the ifo Institute. According to the institute's calculations, 56.1 billion euros are booked as investments for 2026, but a large part relates to items that do not have an immediate infrastructure connection.
Thus, researcher Emilie Höslinger criticizes
that many supposed investments are “in truth not productive future expenditures, but hidden subsidies.”
According to the institute's analysis, among the ten largest investment items of the federal budget are, among other things, multibillion-euro loans to social insurances or international aid. Only about a quarter of the volume of these top-10 positions, specifically 5.8 billion euros, actually flows into motorways, rail lines or other classic infrastructure. Moreover, the share of genuine construction investments has halved since the pandemic. This makes it harder to see how much the federal government actually invests in maintaining and expanding the transport system.
CDU/CSU emphasizes record funds for transport
Representatives of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, on the other hand, emphasize the height of the planned investments. The budgetary policy spokesperson
Christian Haase states, according to a statement from his faction, that the coalition is “pulling out all the stops to advance growth and employment with the highest investment level of all time.”
According to him, over the coming years 166 billion euros are to flow into road, rail and waterways. Included are also programs for bridge renovation, structural reform of Deutsche Bahn and modernization of the sea and inland ports.
Florian Oßner, the responsible rapporteur for the faction, emphasizes that the pure investment expenditures of the federal government in 2026 amount to more than 127 billion euros. Additionally the special fund provides three billion euros
for new expressway projects. The deputy announces:
“Everything that is construction-ready will be built.”
He points to accelerated procedures and additional credit authorizations of 500 billion euros for infrastructure.
Bremerhaven gains strategic importance
Another investment concerns the ports in Bremerhaven. The state government said that the federal government will provide 1.35 billion euros. The money is to flow into militarily usable port infrastructure. A logistics node is planned that, according to the state government, should meet the growing requirements of NATO. The first funds could be available from 2026. For maritime logistics in northern Germany, these are significant site decisions that could indirectly influence civilian goods handling.
Criticism of lack of support for rail freight
The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) calls for a correction of the budget in the area of track funding. In a statement, the VDV warns of a relocation of freight traffic back to the road. The sharply rising track charges burden railway companies that rely on federal funds. According to the association, track charges for 2025 have already risen by more than 17 percent, with further increases feared for 2026 in the high single digits.
The VDV vice-president Joachim Berends emphasizes that the government must increase the funding by at least 85 million euros to keep supply chains stable and secure the competitiveness of rail. He warns that industries such as wood, steel or chemicals depend on
affordable rail capacity. The politically promised track-price reform is overdue from the association's perspective and must take effect no later than 2027.
Culture-, sport- and media budget with numerous adjustments
Alongside transport and the economy, the Budget Committee also adjusted the budgets for culture, sport and media. According to the Bundestag, cultural investments receive an additional 120 million euros, and the commitment appropriations up to 2034 amount to 415 million euros. In addition, a new program for swimming promotion is created, which provides five million euros annually from 2026 to 2029.
Outlook: Large sums, but unclear targeting
It remains unclear how the politically communicated record investments will actually work. While the federal government and the CDU/CSU faction refer to comprehensive programs for roads, rails and ports, the ifo Institute's analysis shows that a large part of the listed investments is only of limited infrastructural effectiveness. The VDV, in turn, warns that rising track prices without additional support could weaken rail and push transports back onto the road.
At the same time, it is also clear that for the performance of the transport corridors, the competitiveness of freight logistics and the stability of supply chains it will be decisive whether the federal government in 2026 actually builds more, plans better and invests in infrastructure in a targeted way – or whether the high sums in the budget ultimately have less effect than the numbers
