German national railway Deutsche Bahn plans to renew 2,000 kilometers of track and 2,000 points this year as part of an effort to update the ageing rail infrastructure in Germany. Total investments in rail infrastructure by Deutsche Bahn as well as Germany's national and local governments will total around 16.4 billion euro ($17.5 billion) in 2024 alone, the state-owned railway announced on Monday. The most recent annual network status report from 2022 estimates the "age-based backlog demand" at $103.4 billion, with needed work on bridges making up more than half of that, 59.9 billion euro, according to the German News Agency (dpa). The most important rail construction project this year will be the general refurbishment of the Riedbahn rail corridor between Frankfurt and Mannheim. The line, a major north-south transport corridor for western Germany, is scheduled to be completely closed for five months. Source: Qatar News Agency