Transport ministers are calling for a billion-dollar package for modern infrastructure!

Transport ministers are calling for a billion-dollar package for modern infrastructure!

The Conference of Transport Ministers (VMK) closed its doors today, October 30, 2025, in Straubing, Bavaria. A central theme of the conference was the urgency of increased financial resources from the federal government for modern transport infrastructure. The ministers of the northern German federal states, including Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, have urgently called for reliable financing commitments.

The Bavarian Ministry of Transport in particular has put forward the proposal to use a special federal fund to promote both the maintenance and the new construction and expansion of infrastructure projects as well as their digitalization. Lower Saxony is intensively planning the construction of the A20 and A39, while Schleswig-Holstein is prioritizing the A20 and A21. Hamburg, on the other hand, focuses on the A26 East, the Elbe crossing and the Köhlbrand Bridge.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in focus

For Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the complete financing of the Wolgast bypass and the Peene Bridge is of great importance. There is still dissatisfaction about the inadequate financing of federal waterways, which particularly affects Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. Lower Saxony reports a need for over 30 building modernizations, including major locks and canals.

The Lower Saxony transport minister emphasizes the need for a 500 million immediate program for waterways. A reform of driving license training is also being discussed, with the costs for class B currently being around 3,400 euros. Hamburg has already signaled that it wants to work on the reform in order to reduce costs through measures such as reducing the number of test questions or shortening the driving test.

Future challenges

Another point was the future of the Deutschlandticket, which will have a new pricing mechanism from 2027 in order to transparently reflect cost increases. The regional airports, which hope for support from the federal government, are a positive example. Funds are to be made available for air traffic control, which will also benefit the regional airports in Sylt, Kiel-Holtenau and Lübeck-Blankensee.

In summary, a clear direction was formulated at the VMK: around 1.8 billion euros should be made available for environmentally friendly freight transport on German rivers in order not only to relieve traffic flows, but also to reduce environmental pollution. The upcoming ministerial conference in March 2026 will once again focus on anchoring these key points in order to find sustainable solutions to the mobility and infrastructure problems in Germany.

It remains to be hoped for the people in the affected regions that the political negotiations will lead to rapid and sustainable financing that not only advances infrastructure projects but also improves the quality of life of citizens.

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