Steffen Bilger: The new transport minister is delivering right away what the Chancellor missed with his predecessor
He wasn't even a second choice to succeed the ousted Patrick Schnieder. Now Steffen Bilger is making one perhaps of the biggest weaknesses of his predecessor be forgotten: his silence.
German Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder was replaced by Steffen Bilger on July 29, after serving for only six months. Chancellor Friedrich Merz tasked Bilger with improving communication, as Schnieder was largely unknown to the public despite having a 500 billion euro budget for climate and infrastructure projects. Bilger appeared on a TV talk show on August 19, where he acknowledged mistakes made by Merz and expressed respect for his predecessor, while also outlining plans to address issues with the German rail network, including the unpunctuality of trains. Bilger aims to improve communication and present traffic policy in a more public-friendly way.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
