How Euro 2024 busted legend of German efficiency

Both private and public sectors have seen under-investment for years, says Professor Hubertus Bardt from the German Economic Institute (IW).

Railways have undergone a “here and there” approach to repairs, he says, which “causes delays and doesn’t really solve the problems”.

More major works are now getting going such as the five-month mega-renewal on the Frankfurt-to-Mannheim line.

But Professor Bardt believes a “huge programme” of broader spending is needed which looks well beyond the annual budgets that can cause political agony for Germany’s ruling coalition.

“We have thousands of bridges that have to be renovated or rebuilt,” he says. The problem is primarily in western Germany which is creaking under infrastructure built in the sixties and seventies, while the east saw fresh investment after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.

The overall view for Germany is worrying, as economic growth forecasts continue to put it at the bottom of the pile when compared with other G7 major economies.

It’s projected to grow by just 0.2% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Efficiency, unrivalled industry and punctuality are labels that have stubbornly stuck to Germany’s reputation abroad but have long worn thin at home.