Bundestag budget committee orders planning for Vorpommern rail upgrade to start in 2027

The committee decision

The budget committee of the German Bundestag decided on Thursday, 12 November 2026, to ask the federal government to start planning the expansion of the Vorpommern-Magistrale in the 2027 budget year. The government is also to conclude the required financing agreement with DB InfraGo AG, a Deutsche Bahn subsidiary. The resolution covers the Berlin-Greifswald-Stralsund-Sassnitz line, which is to be upgraded to speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour, shortening travel times considerably.

Cost and funding

Starting the planning requires around 7 million euros at first, but the resolution does not name a specific amount. Earlier figures put the full cost of the upgrade at about 500 million euros. The financing agreement with DB InfraGo still has to be concluded before the planning can formally begin.

Initial planning funding (around)7

Estimated total cost (earlier reports)500

Initial planning funding (around)

7 million euros

Estimated total cost (earlier reports)

500 million euros

Data from the article text

Link to the LNG terminal

The committee recalled that the federal government had promised to carry out the upgrade in connection with the LNG terminal being built at Sassnitz-Mukran on Rügen. The line links Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the committee described it as being of great infrastructure importance. The commitment has been a long-standing promise of federal politics.

Regional reaction

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's economy minister Wolfgang Blank, who is non-party, called the decision 'really good news' for Vorpommern and the whole state. He told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the state had pushed for the expansion for a long time.

“We have been campaigning for the expansion of the Vorpommern-Magistrale for a long time, on many levels and with great determination.”

Blank said the upgrade would be an important step for the economy and tourism across the region. He also urged the federal government to act quickly on the financing.

“Now the federal government must quickly conclude the financing agreement with Deutsche Bahn so that planning can start very soon.”

What comes next

The next step is the financing agreement between the federal government and DB InfraGo, which the committee asked the government to conclude. Planning is to begin in 2027, but dpa's report suggests the process may still take some time. No concrete sum for the planning phase was set in the resolution.