Lack of Transparency in Millions of Euros in Subsidies for Dismantling the Transrapid Test Facility Emsland
For years, millions of euros from the federal budget have been flowing into the planned dismantling of the Transrapid Test Facility Emsland – yet to this day it is completely unclear what exactly the money is being spent on. Smaller dismantling measures have taken place in the past – including the removal of the drive winding, the radio antennas and other attachments along the track – but they are out of all proportion to the enormous sums the federal government has been providing for more than a decade. The test facility is still fully intact, and no comprehensive dismantling is apparent.
Between 2013 and 2016, around €11.2 million from the federal budget was already earmarked for dismantling, followed by another €25 million in 2023. The 2025 draft budget now provides for another €26 million through 2028. On top of that come several hundred thousand euros set aside for consulting services between 2021 and 2024 alone. But one looks in vain for concrete information on which services were actually commissioned or carried out with this money. Public project plans, contracts or detailed descriptions of measures are missing.
In view of this lack of transparency, magnetbahn.de has now filed an official request under the Freedom of Information Act (IFG) with the German Federal Ministry of Transport. The request was submitted publicly via the FragDenStaat platform. It demands comprehensive information on the actual use of the budget funds since 2011. Among other things, it asks how much money was used for consulting and how much for dismantling measures actually carried out, which concrete services were financed with the 2023 funds, and what schedules and work plans underlie the dismantling. It also seeks to clarify whether any money flowed back to the federal government – for example in the form of unused funds or repayments.
Of particular interest is also the legal basis of this funding. According to Section 13 of the “Act on the Construction and Operation of Test Facilities for Testing Technologies for Guided Transport”, it is not the state but solely the operator of the test facility that is obliged to carry out the dismantling at its own expense. Why the federal government has nonetheless been paying with taxpayers’ money for years for a task that legally is not its responsibility remains unanswered so far.
An official response from the ministry is expected in the coming weeks. magnetbahn.de will report on the reaction and put the results into context transparently.
It is a political signal with a fatal effect: while other nations ambitiously turn to the future of mobility, Germany is opting for unwinding. Not for lack of knowledge, not out of technological overload, but from a structural deficit of willingness to innovate.
In the view of David Harder (magnetbahn.de), the test track in Emsland should be preserved in full – as a cautionary monument to the spirit of invention and innovative power that once distinguished Germany. It could help keep the technology alive in the collective consciousness, strengthen the region’s tourism and inspire younger generations with technical excellence. Instead, supporting its final removal with countless tens of millions is a fatal sign for the whole nation.
Whoever dismantles the Transrapid today not only destroys a piece of technological history but willfully closes the door on an option that could revolutionize the long-distance travel of the future. The question remains: how does Germany intend to hold its own in international mobility competition if it razes its own outstanding achievements to the ground?
