In the political agreement I quoted upthread, it says that the Danish railways estimate an optimal maintenance investment of DKK 5½-6 bn over the next eight years (call it € 100 mil per year). Reading between the lines, it seems that the politicians didn't like that number - they wanted a mulligan on the estimate.

I have no idea of what a proper maintenance budget would look like for Denmark, so I can't say if € 100 mil a year is a lot, in the right ballpark or not nearly enough. Of note is that from 2007 through to 2014 there has been a major overhaul of the worst maintained track sections (tracks going bust under moving passenger trains tends to focus the mind wonderfully on the gainful aspects of proper maintenance). Of note is also that this did not (and will not, in the time remaining) completely eliminate the backlog of deferred maintenance.

- Jake

If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.