Nature and resources conservation
New habitats on DB land
In collaboration with the Bodensee Stiftung, the Global Nature Fund and the Institute of Life-based Architecture, new diverse habitats are being created for plants, insects and animals on DB Group sites in a three-year project, which is part of the EU LIFE BoogiBOP project. One of the aims of these green spaces is to counter the loss of insects. Thanks to the range and diversity of areas that we have available, the potential for biodiversity is huge. The measures range from nesting aids for birds to the planting of flowering areas and sound-absorbing walls. The first projects have already been started, including a 280 m² flowering meadow at Nuremberg vehicle maintenance depot, a 1,100 m² area at Potsdam Sanssouci Park station and a sustainably managed area as part of the Six-Lakes project in Duisburg-Wedau.
Adapting to climate change
After the extremely hot and dry summers of recent years, we are preparing for the possibility of more heat waves. As part of our heat program, infrastructure facilities that are susceptible to heat and dry conditions have been identified, existing processes improved and new measures piloted. The aim is to establish a modern and sustainable heat prevention system for rail infrastructure. Even before the hot season started, the annual inspection and maintenance of the infrastructure, in particular the air-conditioning systems in interlockings, have been completed. In addition to the information provided by the switch diagnostics solution DIANA (diagnostic and analysis platform), new temperature sensors are being installed on tracks and in interlockings at critical points. The use of innovative materials is being tested for cooling older concrete switching stations. The testing of white tracks, which began in the previous year, was expanded in spring 2020 to include real-time temperature measurements at Pieffetalbrücke (high-speed line Hanover—Würzburg).
Change in waste management
Since the start of 2020, waste disposal at our stations and on long-distance trains has been switched from four-way separation to two-way separation (paper and mixed waste). Waste disposal companies handle the sorting of mixed waste at state-of-the-art sorting facilities, thereby ensuring that over 85% of recyclable materials are reused. Up to now, only about 40% of waste was sorted. The paper collected continues to be recycled as before. The new collection system yields more recyclable materials and helps to achieve a better environmental balance.