With the support of the Greens: Saxony’s Budget Committee paves the way for 30 new trams in Leipzig

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Since the last state election, the CDU and SPD have been governing Saxony as a minority government, meaning they are always reliant on votes from the other parliamentary groups in the state parliament. This gives individual opposition groups the opportunity to tip the balance in their favour and push through important decisions. It was with a certain sense of pride that the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group announced on Wednesday, 2 September, that by voting in favour during the Budget and Finance Committee meeting, it had secured a majority for the Leipzig Transport Authority’s ‘Tram of the Future’ project.

This will enable Leipzig Transport to purchase 30 new trams and secure 82 million euros in European funding.https://vg02.met.vgwort.de/na/82acbe8796cb425f992701f843fc07bc

The funds for the trams were not originally included in the budget. This would have dashed all of LVB’s hopes of introducing the new trams into Leipzig’s tram network from 2027 onwards. However, at the level of the Free State, the situation is now very similar to that in Leipzig, with completely inadequate funding: If a project such as the new trams for Leipzig is to be funded, other investments in the state’s 2027/2028 biennial budget will have to be postponed or scrapped. Or, in the words of the Green Party parliamentary group: “They are here now because the state government has not made other investments.”

“We helped secure a majority for the motion because it will enable us to secure 82 million euros in European funding for Saxony,” explains Franziska Schubert, finance spokesperson for the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group. “30 new trams for Leipzig are important and urgently needed: they ensure climate-friendly mobility and quality of life in Leipzig. Leipzig is a growing city, so investment in infrastructure is essential. We must not let this opportunity for European funding slip away.”

But there’s a shortfall when it comes to cycling

However, she emphasises that climate-friendly mobility requires both: “a strong public transport system and good cycling infrastructure – and we are not at all pleased with the developments in this area.” This is why the Greens are also criticising the state government for failing to implement cycle path planning and construction in the 2025/2026 two-year budget as provided for in the Budget Act.

“New trams for Leipzig are good news for climate-friendly mobility. At the same time, the state government must ensure that the necessary funds for cycle path construction are reliably financed and that the limited funds allocated to cycling are actually used for cycling,” says Katja Meier, transport policy spokesperson for the Green Party parliamentary group. “Sustainable modes of transport must not be pitted against one another. Cycling needs support and planning certainty. The fact that the state government cannot say which specific projects are currently not being implemented due to the reallocation of funds does not make matters any better. Instead of finally driving cycling forward in Saxony, the state government keeps putting the brakes on it.”