German seaports in need of reliable and competitive rail connections

The railway is the dominant mode of transport for the transport of goods to the seaports in Hamburg and Bremen. It thus fulfils an important task, the significance of which will increase in order to successfully achieve an ecological transport turnaround. However, the infrastructure is outdated and traffic volumes are increasing. In order to meet these challenges, DB InfraGO, a federally owned railway infrastructure company, has begun a general overhaul of the network.

The participants at the 8th Rail Conference in Bremen also fundamentally supported the measures, but also called for functioning connections during this phase, as host Sebastian Doderer, head of the Rail Expert Group, already formulated in his welcoming address: ‘Even during the upcoming renovation of the high-performance corridors, which we welcome, the accessibility of our northern German seaports by rail must be ensured.’

At the conference, which was organised by the rail specialist group in cooperation with the Hamburg Logistics Initiative, Port of Hamburg Marketing and the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, representatives from politics and business as well as Deutsche Bahn had their say and presented their views and requirements to the audience.

Seaports need a permanent connection

Continuous and efficient rail connections are of the utmost importance, especially for the seaports of Hamburg and Bremen, where more than half of all containers already find their way to and from the port by rail. This was emphasised by Kristina Vogt, Senator for Economic Affairs, Ports and Transformation of the State of Bremen: ‘Bremen is continuously investing in the further development of the Bremen-Bremerhaven railway in order to continuously increase the already leading rail share in hinterland traffic in the future. In doing so, we are making a significant contribution to promoting the shift to rail and supporting climate targets in both the transport sector and industry. The federal government must act quickly and decisively to ensure the success of these measures. Implementation of the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan 2030 in the ports' hinterland is overdue.’

Olaf Lies, Lower Saxony's Minister for Economic Affairs, Transport, Construction and Digitalisation, added: ’The plan to renovate the main routes as part of the general renovation is highly ambitious and deserves respect. It is a courageous step towards better railways. However, we must not lose sight of freight transport, ports and coastal regions. That is why we need to work together on the issue of port hinterland connections, which also includes Bremen and Hamburg. Accessibility of the northern German coastal regions will become increasingly important as the economy transforms.’

In his presentation, Dr Wolfgang Weinhold, Programme Manager for the General Renovation of the High-Performance Network, explained that DB InfraGO has recognised the signs of the times. The focus of the general renovation is on a more reliable infrastructure, higher performance, an improved customer experience and more planning reliability, while reducing future traffic restrictions to a minimum. Initial experiences have been gained from the Riedbahn pilot project. The construction phase has been completed and commissioning is underway.

The following panel discussion, with the participation of representatives from the rail and port industries, made it clear that the general refurbishment is generally welcomed, but that the accessibility of the North German seaports must be ensured.

‘High-performance rail freight transport is a success factor for the German seaports. We are doing everything we can to ensure that this transhipment centre remains in the future,’ emphasised Jan Müller, CEO of J. Müller Aktiengesellschaft in Brake and President of the Oldenburg Chamber of Commerce.

Albert Bastius, COO of TX Logistik, also reiterated why rail is so important as a means of transport: ’Rail is by far the most environmentally friendly of all modes of transport. This positions us per se as a committed company for sustainable transport and climate protection. We are doing everything we can to make it easy for our customers to choose rail and aim to change the modal split in the medium and long term by shifting from road to rail.’
The Rail Working Group is organising the 9th Rail Conference in Hamburg on 8 December 2025.