A message from the Federal Minister for Digital and Transport Dr Volker Wissing

The rail industry can be fast, progressive and high-tech. We experienced an impressive demonstration of this in 2024: the general rehabilitation of the Riedbahn high-performance corridor. Within just five months, Deutsche Bahn and the construction companies achieved what normally takes up to eight years. In this short time, they laid more than 110 kilometres of new track, installed 265,000 sleepers, put in place 380,000 tonnes of ballast, built 15 kilometres of noise barriers, fitted 150 points and renewed 130 kilometres of overhead lines. All of this was only possible because more than 800 dedicated people worked virtually around the clock during the rehabilitation phase.

However, we also owe this success to the state-of-the-art technology used in the planning and construction phases. Above all, I was fascinated by the large track-laying machines, which I saw live and in action during a visit to the Riedbahn construction site.

Innovative machines like these, along with many other track equipment and rail construction technologies, can be admired at the 29th International Exhibition for Track Technology (iaf) in Münster in May 2025.

I would like to thank the Association of German Railway Engineers (VDEI) for sharing their enthusiasm for and expertise in rail and construction technology with us – and for again bringing the international community of experts to Münster for this purpose. I am delighted to once again serve as patron of the iaf this year!

It is clear that your sector has a bright future. We continue to depend on the railways as a mode of transport – now more than ever. That is why it is so important that we continue to rehabilitate, renew and build tracks and railway lines everywhere in Germany and Europe – in the fastest, most efficient and climate-friendly manner possible using digital and technological innovations. At the iaf 2025, we can see what is already possible today.

I wish all exhibitors and visitors an enjoyable, fruitful and successful exhibition!

Dr Volker Wissing, Member of the German Bundestag

Federal Minister for Digital and Transport