- Transport in Germany
This article is about transport in the Federal Republic of Germany, a member of the
European Union .Road and automotive transport
The volume of traffic in Germany, especially goods transportation, is at a very high level due to its central location in Europe. In the past few decades, much of the freight traffic shifted from rail to road, which led the Federal Government to introduce a motor toll for trucks in 2005. Individual road usage increased resulting in a relatively high traffic density to other nations. A further increase of traffic is expected in the future.
High-speed vehicular traffic has a long tradition in Germany given that the first
freeway (Autobahn ) in the world, theAVUS , and the world's firstautomobile were developed and built in Germany. Germany possesses one of the most dense road systems of the world. German motorways have no blanketspeed limit . However, posted limits are in place on many dangerous or congested stretches as well as where traffic noise or pollution poses a problem.The German government has had issues with upkeep of the roads in the country. For the government has had to revamp the eastern portions transport system since the unification of Germany between the
German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). With that, numerous construction projects have been put on hold in the west, and a vigorous reconstruction has been going on for almost 20 years. However ever since theEuropean Union formed an over all streamlining and change of route plans have occurred as faster and more direct links to formereastern block countries now exist and are in the works, with intense co-operation among European countries.Roads
* Total: 656,140 km
* Paved: 650,891 kmOther roads
The
national roads in Germany are calledBundesstraße n (federal road). Their numbers are usually well known to the road users, as they appear (written in black digits on a yellow rectangle with black border) on direction traffic signs and in street maps. A Bundesstraße is often referred to as "B" followed by its number, for example "B 1", one of the main east-west routes. More important routes have lower numbers. Odd numbers are usually applied to east-west oriented roads, and even numbers for north-south routes. Bypass routes are referred to with an appended "a" (alternative) or "n" (new alignment), as in "B 56n".Other main public roads are maintained by the Bundesländer (states), called
Landesstraße (country road) or Staatsstraße (state road). The numbers of these roads are prefixed with "L", "S" or "St", but are usually not seen on direction signs or written in maps. They appear on the kilometre posts on the roadside. Numbers are unique only within one state.The
Landkreis e (districts) (number prefix "K") and municipalities are in charge of the minor roads and streets within villages, towns and cities.Automobiles
*Total number of cars: 53,600,000
*Cars per 100 capita: 65Automobile companies and their brands
*
Volkswagen
**Audi
**Bentley (British)
**Bugatti (French)
**Lamborghini (Italian)
**Škoda Auto (Czech)
**SEAT (Spanish)
**Volkswagen
*Daimler AG
**Mercedes-Benz
**Smart
**Maybach
*Bayerische Motorenwerke
**BMW
**Rolls-Royce (British)
**MINI (British)
*Porsche
*Opel (owned byGeneral Motors )ee also
*
Autobahn
*List of motorways in Germany
*List of federal highways in Germany Rail transport Railways:
* total: 40,826 km, including
* at least 14,253 km electrified and
* 14,768 km double- or multiple-tracked (1998)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 privatisation in 1994, Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG) no longer publishes details of the tracks it owns; in addition to the DB AG system there are about 280 privately or locally owned railway companies which own an approximate 3,000 km to 4,000 km of the total tracks and use DB tracks in "open access".
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; instead, the long-distance trains must be self-supporting. Local trains however are subsidised by the German states, which pay the operating companies to run these trains. This resulted in many private companies offering to run local train services as they can provide cheaper service than the state-owned Deutsche Bahn.
The
InterCityExpress or ICE is a type of high-speed train operated by Deutsche Bahn in Germany and large cities in neighbouring countries, such asZürich ,Vienna ,Amsterdam ,Liège andBrussels . The rail network throughout Germany is extensive and provides excellent services in most areas. On regular lines, at least one train every two hours will call even in the smallest of villages. Nearly all larger metropolitan areas are served byS-Bahn ,U-Bahn ,Strassenbahn and/or bus networksRail links in adjacent countries
* Denmark — same gauge — voltage change
15 kV AC /25 kV AC
* Poland — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/3 kV DC
* Czech Republic — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/3 kV DC
* Austria — same gauge — same voltage
* Switzerland — same gauge — same voltage
* France — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/(25 kV AC or 1500 V DC).
* Luxembourg — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/(25 kV AC or 3 kV DC)
* The Netherlands — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/1500 V DC
**Betuweroute - same gauge = voltage change 15kV AC/ 25 kV AC - freight only
* Belgium — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/ 3 kV DCInternational passenger trains
(only major connections listed)
*Amsterdam Centraal —Berlin Ostbahnhof :
**Amsterdam Centraal,Netherlands
**Amersfoort , Netherlands
**Deventer , Netherlands
**Hengelo , Netherlands
**Bad Bentheim ,Lower Saxony
**Rheine ,North Rhine-Westphalia
**Osnabrück Hbf,Lower Saxony
**Bünde ,North Rhine-Westphalia
**Bad Oeynhausen ,North Rhine-Westphalia
**Minden ,North Rhine-Westphalia
**Hannover Hbf,Lower Saxony
**Wolfsburg ,Lower Saxony
**Stendal ,Saxony-Anhalt
**BerlinSpandau
**Berlin Zoo
**Berlin Ostbahnhof
*Amsterdam Centraal —Vienna Westbf:
**(see alsoTransportation in the Netherlands )
**Emmerich ,North Rhine-Westphalia
**Wesel
**Oberhausen Hbf,North Rhine-Westphalia
**Duisburg Hbf,North Rhine-Westphalia
**Düsseldorf Hbf,North Rhine-Westphalia
**Köln HbfNorth Rhine-Westphalia
**Frankfurt (Main) Hbf,Hesse
**Nürnberg Hbf,Bavaria
**Regensburg Hbf
**Straubing
**Plattling
**Passau Hbf
**(see alsoTransportation in Austria )
*Copenhagen Hovedbanegarden —Hamburg Hauptbahnhof:
**Copenhagen,Denmark
**Roskilde , Denmark
**Ringsted , Denmark
**Næstved , Denmark
**Nykøbing, Denmark
**Rødby , Denmark
**Puttgarden ,Schleswig-Holstein
**Oldenburg ,Schleswig-Holstein
**Neustadt ,Schleswig-Holstein
**Lübeck ,Schleswig-Holstein
**Hamburg Hbf,Hamburg
*Novosibirsk /Astana /Moscow /Saint Petersburg /Kharkiv —Berlin Lichtenberg (not all stations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine listed):
**Astana,Kazakhstan
**Saratov ,Russia
**Minsk ,Belarus
***Moscow Belorusskaya,Russia
***Minsk ,Belarus
**Brest, Belarus
**Warsaw Wschodnia,Poland
***Kharkiv ,Ukraine
***Kiev ,Ukraine
***Yahodyn ,Ukraine
***Warsaw Wschodnia, Poland
**Warszawa Centralna station , Poland
**Warsaw Zachodnia, Poland
**Kutno ,Poland
**Konin, Poland
**Poznań , Poland
**Świebodzin , Poland
**Frankfurt (Oder) ,Brandenburg
**Berlin Lichtenberg
*Berlin —Prague Holesovice:
**Berlin Ostbahnhof
**Elsterwerda ,Brandenburg
**Dresden-Neustadt, Saxony
**Dresden Hbf, Saxony
**Bad Schandau , Saxony
**Děčín ,Czech Republic
**Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
**Prague Holesovice, Czech Republic
*Frankfurt am Main —Strasbourg /Basel :
**Frankfurt (Main) Hbf,Hesse
*Mannheim Hbf,Baden-Württemberg
**Karlsruhe Hbf,Baden-Württemberg
***Kehl ,Baden-Württemberg
***Strasbourg ,France
**Freiburg ,Baden-Württemberg
**Basel Badischer Bahnhof ,Germany /Switzerland
*Munich — Verona:
**München Hbf,Bavaria
**München Ost,Bavaria
**Rosenheim ,Bavaria
**Kufstein ,Tyrol , Austria
**Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof,Tyrol , Austria
**Brenner Pass , Austria —Italy
**Bolzano ,Italy
**Trento ,Italy
**Verona Porta Nuova,Italy It is also possible to travel to
London ,United Kingdom by changing onto theEurostar atBrussels International freight trains
While Germany and most of
contiguous Europe usestandard gauge (1435 mm), differences in signalling, rules and regulations, electrification voltages, etc. tend to hamstring freight operations across borders. These obstacles are slowly being overcome, with international (in- and outgoing) and transit (through) traffic being responsible for a large part of the recent uptake in rail freight volume.S-Bahn
In some areas of Germany an urban railway called
S-Bahn is in operation. These trains usually connect larger agglomerations to the suburban areas, although in the case of theRhein-Ruhr S-Bahn these also serve as a method of interurban transport between large cities.Metros
Relatively few cities have a full-fledged underground
U-Bahn system, andS-Bahn (suburbancommuter railway ) systems are far more common. In some cities the distinction between U-Bahn and S-Bahn systems is blurred, for instance some S-Bahn systems run underground, have frequencies similar to U-Bahn, and form part of the same integrated transport network. A larger number of cities has upgraded its tramways to light rail standards. These systems are calledStadtbahn (not to be confused with S-Bahn),on main line rails.Cities with pure
U-Bahn systems are:
*Berlin (U-Bahn)
*Hamburg (U-Bahn)
*Frankfurt am Main (U-Bahn)
*Munich (U-Bahn)
*Nuremberg /Fürth (U-Bahn)Cities with Stadtbahn systems can be found in the article
Trams in Germany .Water transport
Waterways: 7,500 km (1999); major rivers include the
Rhine andElbe ;Kiel Canal is an important connection between theBaltic Sea andNorth Sea , theRhine-Main-Danube Canal links Rotterdam on the North Sea with the Black Sea.Pipelines: crude oil 2,500 km (1998)
Ports and harbours:
Berlin ,Bonn , Brake, Bremen,Bremerhaven ,Cologne ,Dortmund ,Dresden ,Duisburg ,Emden ,Hamburg ,Karlsruhe ,Kiel ,Lübeck ,Magdeburg ,Mannheim ,Oldenburg ,Rostock ,Stuttgart The port of Hamburg is the largest sea-harbour in Germany and ranks #2 in Europe, #7 world-wide (2004).
Merchant marine:
total: 475 ships (with a volume of GRT|1,000|first=yes or over) totaling GRT|6,395,990/DWT|8,014,132|metric|first=yes
ships by type:bulk carrier 2,cargo ship 181,chemical tanker 12,container ship 239, Liquified Gas Carrier 2, multi-functional large load carrier 5,passenger ship 2, petroleum tanker 8, rail car carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 2,roll-on/roll-off ship 13, short-sea passenger 7 (1999 est.)Air transport
Frankfurt International Airport is a major international airport and European transportation hub. Frankfurt Airport ranks among the world's top ten airports and serves 304 flight destinations in 110 countries. It is worldwide the airport with the largest number of international destinations served. Depending whether total passengers, flights or cargo traffic are used as a measure, it ranks as the busiest, second busiest and third busiest in Europe alongsideLondon Heathrow Airport andParis Charles de Gaulle Airport .Germany's second important international airport is Munich. Other major airports are Berlin Tegel, Berlin Schönefeld, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn, Leipzig/Halle and in the future
Berlin Brandenburg International Airport .Travelling by air within Germany is unusual due to the extensive network of motorways and railway services. But due to the declining prices released by the many low-cost carriers who build a remarkable domestic network within Germany is increasing. On long range travel taking the plane is occasionally less expensive than by rail.
The national carrier is
Lufthansa .Airports: 615 (1999 est.)
Airports — with paved runways:
* total: 320
** over 3,047 m: 14
** 2,438 to 3,047 m: 61
** 1,524 to 2,437 m: 67
** 914 to 1,523 m: 56
** under 914 m: 122 (1999 est.)Airports — with unpaved runways:
* total: 295
** over 3,047 m: 2
** 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
** 1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
** 914 to 1,523 m: 55
** under 914 m: 226 (1999 est.)Heliports: 59 (1999 est.)
National airlines:
*Lufthansa
*Air Berlin
** LTU
** Condor (acquisition mid 2008)
**dba
*TUIfly
*Germanwings ee also
*
Germany
*Rail transport in Germany
*List of airports in Germany
*License plates in Germany External links
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