Economy, Transportation

Germany has a highly developed transportation system including a limited-access superhighway known as the autobahn. There is no speed limit on the autobahns, but frequent reconstruction projects and congestion keep the speed down. Since East German roads had not been upgraded and expanded much since the 1930s and the volume of motor vehicles on them rose greatly after unification, a large part of the funds transferred from the West have gone to expand the German highway system.

The country’s extensive passenger and freight rail system played a major role in German economic development. Most of the railroads were government-owned until 1993, when legislation was approved to privatize them. They are now under private ownership as Bundesbahn A.G. High-speed intercity lines serve major German cities such as Hamburg and Munich, Frankfurt and Dresden, and Hannover and Bremen.

Germany has major navigable inland waterways and canals. The canals, such as the Mittellandkanal, supplement the traffic routes of the major rivers; some canals, such as the Kiel Canal and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, connect major bodies of water. Duisburg, Magdeburg, Mannheim, and Berlin are large inland ports, and Hamburg, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Emden, Lubeck, Rostock, and Stralsund are major seaports. An extensive underground pipeline system conveys crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas.

Air transportation of passengers and goods is served by several international airports, including Frankfurt and Munich, and many regional airports. There are 660 airports, including 13 major ones. Germany’s principal airline, Deutsche Lufthansa A.G., was formerly operated by the government but is now privately owned.