Germany to boost rail investment to 9b euros in 2018

German state rail operator Deutsche Bahn said Thursday it would sharply lift investment in its infrastructure this year, part of a years-long battle to make grumbling about delays history.

The group plans to spend a "record sum" of 9.3 billion euros ($11.6 billion) on upgrading, repairing and extending tracks, stations, bridges and tunnels in 2018, infrastructure chief Ronald Pofalla said in a statement, an increase of 9.4 percent over last year's figure.

Among the headline projects are upgrades to major routes, such as stretches linking northern ports Bremen and Hamburg with cities further south, and two lines running across Germany's southeastern border with Austria.

Some 700 stations including hubs like western financial capital Frankfurt and Magdeburg in eastern Germany will also enjoy touch-ups worth a total of 1.2 billion euros.