Skip to main content

Germany performs U turn on privatising autobahn projects

Germany has made a U-turn on its controversial proposals to allow private investment into the administration of the Autobahn network. The proposals had attracted a great deal of political criticism and had become the subject of some debate. Proposals may yet allow private investors to take stakes in motorway construction projects. The country has a substantial backlog of road projects. The suggestion to allow private investment into Autobahn projects has come following discussions between the Federal Govern
November 1, 2016 Read time: 1 min
Germany has made a U-turn on its controversial proposals to allow private investment into the administration of the Autobahn network. The proposals had attracted a great deal of political criticism and had become the subject of some debate. Proposals may yet allow private investors to take stakes in motorway construction projects. The country has a substantial backlog of road projects. The suggestion to allow private investment into Autobahn projects has come following discussions between the Federal Government and state governments across the country. At present Germany invests around €3.5 billion/year in building new Autobahn sections or maintaining existing stretches.

Related Content

  • Russia to commission new Moscow-St Petersburg highway by 2020
    June 20, 2017
    Final delivery of the final stretch for Russia’s key highway project looks set to be delayed – Eugene Gerden writes. I now looks as if Russia’s most ambitious project in the field of road building in recent years, the building of a new high-speed road link between Moscow and St Petersburg, the country’s largest cities, will not be complete in time. The project was set up by the Russian government and several private investors. According to initial state plans, building of the new road should have been compl
  • Bulgaria: back on track?
    July 23, 2012
    Several important Bulgarian road projects are expected to gain momentum over the coming weeks, a welcome boost for a sector that has been beset by delays in the past. In mid-September, the National Road Infrastructure Agency (NRIA) announced that it would soon be declaring new tenders for the construction of two key road projects worth a total of US$94 million (approximately €68.8 million). One section will link the south-eastern city of Kardzhali to Podkova, near the Greek border: the second will connect t
  • A6 project between Weinsberg and Wiesloch/Rauenberg set to start
    January 26, 2017
    Work will soon start on the €1.3 billion project to widen a stretch of the A6 motorway, one of Germany’s most congested highways. Both sides of the motorway between the Weinsberg and Wiesloch/Rauenberg junctions will be expanded. On 25 km of the section being expanded under the project – altogether 47.1 km – the number of lanes will be increased from four to six. The project also encompasses the construction of the 1.3km-long Neckartal Bridge. Preparatory work for the public-private partnership has
  • Poland's ambitious highway construction plans
    July 10, 2012
    The European football championships are among a number of things pushing Poland's ambitious highway building programme. Patrick Smith reports. Poland is planning to spend a colossal €4.57 billion on road projects in 2009, a 35% increase over the previous year. T