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The railway wants to invest a lot of money in a new plant in Cottbus and create 1,200 new jobs. The project is part of the Structural Strengthening Law, which aims to support regions affected by the elimination of coal.
Lusatia is changing due to the decision to phase out coal. Many jobs will be lost in the region in the next few years. The new Cottbus railway plant, a major Deutsche Bahn project with 1,200 jobs, aims to help cushion this change.
Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz, Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer and DB Board Member Ronald Pofalla jointly presented plans for this. “Here we are implementing something that shows how structural change can really work,” said Scholz at Cottbus.
Investment in structurally weak region
The plant is the first major project to be financed based on the Federal Law on Structural Strengthening. These are investments of several hundred million euros. The law has been in force since August.
According to Deutsche Bahn, the construction of the plant will begin in 2023. A new room for the maintenance of the ICE 4 trains is planned at the Cottbus railway works site.
In addition, a separate room will be built to convert diesel vehicles to hybrid technology with electric drive. Around 1,100 new industrial jobs and 100 apprenticeships are planned by 2026.
According to the company, it will be the most modern and environmentally friendly railway maintenance facility in Europe. With the new plant and more than double the jobs, capacities would be vastly expanded. This is necessary because ICE’s fleet will grow to more than 420 vehicles by 2026, explained Sabina Jeschke, member of the DB Board of Directors for Digitization and Technology.
