When millions of soccer fans descend on
Germany in 2006, the
 country's
railways and roads will be ready for them, government officials said this
week.
World Cup organizing committee head Franz Beckenbauer, Interior Minister
Otto Schily and Transportation Minister Manfred Stolpe said Wednesday that
federal and state governments will invest €4.5 billion ($6 billion) in the
country's transportation system by 2006.
Germany's famed speed limit-free autobahns will be polished and new, and
railways between major World Cup hubs like
Berlin,
Leipzig and
Hamburg improved to cut down on travel time. Local transportation links
and Germany's airports will also get money for improvements.
Speedy trains connect Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig
"The first impression foreign visitors will have of Germany will be at
the airport or train station," said Schily, according to Reuters. "The World
Cup is a chance to show off the beauty and advantages of our country,
something we're not always aware of ourselves."
Beckenbauer and Interior Minister Schily, right, said Germany's
infrastructure is ready
For the past few years, the Deutsche Bahn has invested millions into
improving the rail system between key World Cup cities. The Berlin to
Hamburg connection, which once took more than 2 hours to travel, now takes
only 90 minutes. The trip between Leipzig and Berlin will also be cut down
30 minutes to one hour by the time fans start arriving in Germany.
"We're running right on schedule," said Deutsche Bahn CEO Hartmut
Mehdorn, who was also at the press conference.
Mehdorn's new crown jewel, the €700 million main train station down the
street from the Chanceller's office in Berlin, is due to be completed in
2006. Mehdorn said Wednesday that the World Cup is providing the initiative
for improvements.
"We're using the World Cup as a shot of adrenaline," he said.
Good connections between 12 venues
The World Cup is expected to bring three million people to Germany.
Games, which will run from June 9 until July 9 in 2006, will be held in
stadiums in Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover,
Kaiserslautern, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund,
Munich,
Frankfurt
and Cologne.
Berlin, which will host the final and five other matches, will reserve
two local trains and buses just for World Cup traffic. Visitors who have
tickets for a match will be able to travel for free on that day.
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