The kick-off celebration to mark the 180th anniversary of German railways took place during a reception at the Deutsche Bahn Railway Museum in Nuremburg, attended by staff from the railway company. It was precisely on 7 December 1835 that the Adler (Eagle) locomotive made its first journey between Nuremburg and Fürth.

As German Federal Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Alexander Dobrindt pointed out, “180 years ago the railways launched the first steam locomotive which soon took over the German territory. Today, we have the longest railway network in Europe. Rail transport is now facing the next revolution with the emergence of mobility. Trains could become the mode of transport of the digital era, with WIFI access for all passengers on mainline and regional trains, and in railway stations.”

According to Dr Rüdiger Grube, Chairman of the Management Board of Deutsche Bahn, “For the last 180 years, railways have made efforts to promote mobility, progress and growth. The virtues of railways since their inception will remain in demand in the future – in particular the unity of the railway community and the determination to provide a better service for customers each day. This is why over the next five years, with the help of the Federal State, 35 billion euros will be invested in the railway network – an amount which has never been equalled in the history of the railways.
Thus, by the end of 2017, our customers will take no more than three hours to travel from Nuremburg to Berlin.
With the recent official christening of the ICE 4, we are entering a new era in ICE trains.
During this period of restructuring within the company, we want to ensure that in future DB will be faster, more competitive and listen more closely to its customers.”

(Source: press release, Deutsche Bahn)