German coalition talks focus on greater investment in public transportation

A coalition between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the left-leaning Social Democrats would likely mean a boon for public transport in the country, according to a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung by Andreas Mihm and Kerstin Schwenn. Exploratory coalition talks, which are due to end on Thursday, have produced a working group paper detailing increased funding for public transport as part of an overall approach to climate protection and in keeping with Paris Agreement goals. "We will increase and dynamise the resources for the Municipal Transport Financing Act in order to reach a volume of 1 billion euros per year by the end of 2021," the parties say in the Economy/Transport working group paper. The parties also state their intention to avoid driving bans and improve air pollution control.

Read the article in German here.