Overview
- The Federal Ministry of Transport told dpa on Sunday that current passenger and freight forecasts do not show the international demand needed to promote the Ostbahn into the 'vordringlicher Bedarf' category required for federal financing.
- The government’s written answer to a parliamentary Kleine Anfrage states that no funds in the federal budget are earmarked for planning or construction on the Berlin–Küstrin‑Kietz line.
- A draft Infrastructure Future Law names the Ostbahn as a route for which the Federal Administrative Court would hear first‑instance disputes, a procedural change Brandenburg officials say could speed approvals but does not provide money.
- Brandenburg leaders continue to press for a continuous double‑track, electrified line with 160 km/h operation, arguing the upgrade would boost regional development, cross‑border ties with Poland and serve as an alternative during planned work on the Berlin–Frankfurt (Oder) corridor.
- Regional planners and the VBB propose a phased upgrade to build demand step by step, but a new cost‑benefit study and formal reclassification in the federal transport plan are needed before federal planning and construction can begin.