FDP on transport

The FDP wants North Rhine-Westphalia to remain Germany's leading logistics location. To that end, ports are to be expanded as hubs and a logistics strategy drawn up for the state. This is meant to strengthen supply chains and secure supplies for industry.

The FDP wants to strengthen goods transport in the state. The ports should grow. Ships, trains and trucks meet there. The state should make a plan for logistics. Logistics means storing and moving goods.

The party relies on competition among ports, operators and logistics firms. It names the ports act as a central tool for securing freight transport and making it more efficient. The planned NRW logistics strategy is to combine infrastructure questions, cross-border cooperation and the interests of those involved. Blockchain technology is to be taken into account extensively.

The FDP wants to keep investing in maintaining and expanding the road network and to strengthen all modes of transport equally. Climate-neutral road mobility is to be reached in a technology-neutral way and without bans, including through more charging infrastructure.

The FDP wants to repair roads and build new ones. Road works should cause fewer delays. There should be more charging points for electric cars, also in rural areas. The party does not want bans on certain vehicles.

Construction site management is to be improved further and made more digital in order to speed up expansion. Digital traffic guidance systems are meant to improve traffic flow and safety, and the state road agency Straßen.NRW is to become more customer-friendly. The FDP wants better conditions for building charging points, especially in rural regions, where it says the car is often indispensable. It also backs a model region for post-fossil mobility in Ostwestfalen-Lippe. Together with the federal government, it wants to advance the repair of long-distance roads, bridges in particular.

The FDP wants to make regional rail more reliable and expand capacity for commuters and freight. This includes upgrade projects, a review of reopening disused lines, and rebuilding the Eifel line.

The FDP wants trains to run more reliably. There should be more room on the tracks for people and goods. Old lines may be used again. The Eifel line should be rebuilt quickly after the flood.

The platform cites as a foundation the one billion euros the state is investing over ten years in overhauling light rail systems. Projects to be developed include the RRX, the "Iron Rhine" or 3RX, and the Betuwe route; the Deutschlandtakt (nationwide coordinated timetable) is supported. Industrial rail lines in the Ruhr area are to be reactivated and linked into a regional freight system. The Cologne–Trier Eifel line is to be rebuilt as a priority, modernized, and fully electrified, with a second track under review. The FDP also backs hydrogen-powered routes and a Rail Campus in Minden.

The FDP wants to move more freight from roads to rivers and canals and to draw up a state waterways strategy for this purpose. It justifies this with climate protection and less congestion.

The FDP wants more goods to travel by ship. Then fewer trucks drive on the roads. This should help the climate and prevent traffic jams. The state should make a plan for rivers and canals.

The platform regards a shift to water as the solution that can be implemented fastest. The strategy is to cover reliable water depth, the repair of canals, locks, and bridges, and autonomous inland shipping. The state's trimodal ports are to be strengthened with a few additional port sites. The FDP also wants to make use of port automation.

The FDP wants to keep investment in bike paths at the level reached and create a statewide network. It is to connect all larger cities and link regional routes with municipal ones.

The FDP wants to build more bike paths. A network should connect all larger cities. There should also be more bike parking. The party welcomes e-scooters.

The network is to range from cycle highways and priority routes to simple paths along farm tracks. It builds on the state's bicycle law. Bike parking facilities and mobility hubs are meant to connect cycling with other modes of transport. The FDP sees e-scooters as useful for short trips and welcomes their spread to more cities.

The FDP wants to preserve the state's regional airports and night flights at Cologne. At the same time, noise protection for residents is to be expanded, and air taxis are to become a regular service within five years.

The FDP wants to keep the small airports in the state. Planes should still be allowed to fly at night in Cologne. In return, there should be less noise for neighbors. Air taxis should fly regularly in five years.

According to the platform, mobility, residents' interests, and climate goals are to be reconciled. Night flights at Cologne are to stay as long as noise reduction is continually implemented to the latest standard. Disadvantages for individual regional airports, for example in air traffic security costs, are to end, and relief is to apply equally to all commercial airports. Regional business is to be involved more closely, for instance on supervisory boards. Because of the expected use of drones in logistics, the FDP wants to reorganize the airspace together with all parties involved.

The FDP wants to redesign local public transit around the customer: one uniform fare system statewide, digital access by app, and on-demand services everywhere, especially in rural areas. The structure of the transit associations is to be reviewed and the ride-service market opened to more competition.

The FDP wants to make buses and trains simpler to use. One fare system should apply in the whole state. People should be able to board anywhere with a phone app. In rural areas, buses should come when ordered. This is called on-demand.

The path begun with the "Eezy" fare is to be continued so that the borders between transit associations no longer matter. The associations are to target their funds more closely at uniform tickets, simple access systems, and on-demand services. Mobility hubs are to connect different modes as transfer points. On-demand systems are to replace fixed services in many rural places, and the FDP expects autonomous vehicles to lower costs. The Passenger Transportation Act is to be reformed further, and the return-to-base requirement for pooled ride services abolished.

The FDP wants infrastructure projects to be planned and approved faster, especially major rail projects and bridge replacements such as on the A45 autobahn. To that end, red tape is to be cut and the right to sue tied to raising objections early.

The FDP wants roads, bridges, and rail lines to be built faster. There should be less red tape. People who want to sue should have to raise objections early. The A45 bridge should be rebuilt especially fast.

For the new A45 bridge, the FDP wants to test new, faster procedures with the federal government, for example with a special commissioner, and then apply them statewide and nationwide. For European projects, a European planning standard is to serve as a guide. It will press the federal government for faster rail construction and binding, objective noise protection criteria. The shortage of skilled planners is to be addressed. A reserve of ready plans is meant to ensure the state can draw down all federal road funds and claim additional ones.