Transport in Germany: types and development

The main factor of Germany's steady economic growth is the intensification and modernization of production, which requires not only the introduction of new technologies and scientific developments, but also the development of transport and related infrastructure.

Transport system in Germany

The market and market relations are inconceivable without the interaction of producers and consumers of goods and services. The development of transport in Germany is inextricably linked with the increase in the scale of domestic and foreign trade. The times when the unhurried water surface of the Rhine was the only trade route remained in the distant past. Today the transport system is a complex intersectoral complex, one of the leading in the world. At 1 km ^{2 of the} German land there are about two kilometers of various roads and communications. Main types of transport in Germany:

• Railway.
• Automotive.
• Air.
• Water.

Separately it is worth mentioning the most environmentally friendly and slow transport - pipeline, which accounts for about 4% of the total freight turnover of the republic.

Railways

The first regular rail service was opened in Bavaria in the winter of 1835. The locomotive staff cruised between Nuremberg and Fürth twice a day, delivering cargo and passengers.

Today, along the length of the railways (44 thousand km), Germany occupies the sixth, and in concentration - the first place in the world. Almost half of them are electrified. The main carrier, the DB (Deutsche Bundesbahn) concern, which unites the railways of the western and eastern lands, includes three divisions: Mobiliti, responsible for passenger transportation, Logistic (freight flow and logistics) and Networks (service and infrastructure maintenance). Despite the improvement of the rolling stock and the government's efforts, the volume of freight turnover is gradually decreasing.

Germany's rail transport is more oriented to the transportation of passengers. The fleet of high-speed express trains (ICE) is developing, the route speed is increasing (the average is 240 km / h, the maximum on the Berlin-Hanover route is up to 450 km / h). The base fare is quite high: for the first class cars - 0.41 euro / km, the second - 0.27.

In the mountainous regions of the country there are cog railways. For the entertainment of tourists, several routes with locomotive locomotives and retro cars have been preserved.

Motor transport

At the end of the twentieth century, thanks to a well-developed network of roads, including more than 40,000 km of federal roads and almost 13,000 km of motorways (multi-lane roads with constructive separation of flows of the opposite direction), Germany's road transport provided more than 60% of freight traffic and up to 90% of the country's passenger turnover . According to the Federal Motor Transport Office, the total number of vehicles on the territory of the country is approaching 60 million, with a density of 640 vehicles per thousand inhabitants.

Although in many major cities, entry to central areas of transport is prohibited, parking problems are very relevant. In addition to specially designated sites for disabled car drivers, there are separate parking spaces for cars controlled by representatives of the beautiful half of humanity.

Germany - the only European country with no speed limits when driving on autobahns. On other roads the permitted maximum speed is 100 km / h, in the settlements - 50 km / h.

Air communication

The air transport of Germany can be briefly described by the advertising slogan of Lufthansa, the largest air carrier, the best way to fly!

Celestial routes to cargo and passengers were defused in 1909 by the German Airships Company. The most famous airship "Graf Zeppelin" made 590 commercial flights to different parts of the world, having overcome more than one and a half million kilometers. The development of domestic and foreign airlines was promoted by Junkers, which began mass production of passenger aircraft in the first half of the 20th century.

Today, Germany's air transport links the major centers of the republic with other countries of the world (the share of domestic flights is very small). The largest of the 16 international airports, which occupies first place in Europe in terms of cargo turnover, is in Frankfurt am Main.

Waterways

The shipping routes on the territory of the republic have a total length of about 7 thousand km. The volume of cargo carried by them reaches 260 million tons per year. Only a third is for domestic transportation. An important transport artery is the Rhine. Regular steamship communication on it was established in the late 90's of the century before last. Currently, the Rhine daily runs up to 120 vessels. The shipping channels with complex gateway systems connect it with the Danube, the Elbe, the Rhone and the Weser.

The seaports of Germany have a very disadvantageous geographical position and are far removed from the main industrial regions. Therefore, the main international trade is conducted through the Netherlands harbors at the mouth of the Rhine, the share of which in the foreign trade turnover of Germany is greater than that of all the ports of the country.

City Posts

Public transport in Germany has the most developed and efficient infrastructure in the European Union. Submitted by the following units:

• Metro. Operates in 19 largest cities. The most extensive and oldest network, founded in 1902, belongs to the Berlin metro (10 lines, 173 stations).
• Aboveground suburban trains. Although they form an independent transport network, traffic patterns in many cities are closely linked to the "subway".
• Buses and trams. Bus traffic is perfectly organized. Stopping points can be found on the letter "H", green. Most of the stops are equipped with information screens showing the arrival time of buses. The tramway is most developed in the Eastern Lands and in Bavaria. Some of the routes are laid underground.

Lovers of comfort can use the services of numerous taxi companies or rent a car.

There is an alternative!

Inspired by the example of neighbors - the Danes and the Dutch, their "pedal revolution" was carried out by the Germans. The starting point in 2002 was the national cycling plan. During the decade, an extensive network of D-Netz was created, based on 12 federal bicycles, with a total length of 10,200 km. Germany's bicycle transport has become an equal segment of the country's infrastructure.

Constantly improved service on the trans-regional cycling routes, made cycling trips comfortable, and every year the profit from this kind of tourism is growing rapidly.

Since 2008, about 3 million euros have been allocated annually for the development of various bicycle projects by the federal budget, and as positive dividends in the areas of public health and the environment, road safety.

A little bit about electric cars

Characteristic features of the development of German transport and industry in general are the minimization, and in the long run, the liquidation of the country's dependence on energy imports. That is why Germany is the undisputed leader among European countries in the development of electric vehicles. And if in 2011 the park of electric cars consisted of only 2.3 thousand cars, then, according to the plans of the authorities, by 2020 their number will reach one million, and in the next decade will increase six times.

The decision promises to be comprehensive: in parallel, the necessary structure will also develop - the allocation of separate lanes for traffic, specialized parking spaces, the creation of a network of points for recharging the batteries. Owners of electric vehicles are already now exempt from payment of transport fees for 5 years, and in the future this term will increase by 2 times.

The German business community and the government plan to allocate 18 billion euros for the implementation of these ambitious plans.

Main directions of development

The German industry and transport make full use of scientific and technical progress to modernize their structures and technologies.

German firms are increasing the output of electric bicycles, in which the engines are motor-wheels with a power of up to 300 watts. The failure of the transmission significantly increases the efficiency of the electric drive. The use of nickel-metal hydride batteries will increase the power reserve without recharging to 50 km.

The improvement of high-class railway transport, intended for international routes, continues. The search for alternatives to trains with distributed traction is underway, as the complete maintenance of the whole composition of motor-cars is associated with certain difficulties.

Despite the multifaceted nature, complexity and capital intensity of the processes, the transport of Germany strives to meet the promising requirements of the industry of the country and society, with observance of all environmental norms and requirements, which are becoming more severe day by day.