Editing Transport in Germany (section)

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[[File:Aerial View of Frankfurt Airport 1.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Frankfurt Airport]], the fourth-busiest airport in Europe]]
[[File:Leipzig-Hauptbahnhof-overview.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Leipzig Hauptbahnhof]], Europe's largest railway station by floor area]]
[[File:Verkehrswegebündelung KRM.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line]], running parallel to [[Bundesautobahn 3]]]]
As a densely populated country in a central location in [[Europe]] and with a developed [[Economy of Germany|economy]], [[Germany]] has a dense [[transport]] [[infrastructure]].

One of the first [[limited-access highway]] systems in the world to have been built, the extensive German [[German Autobahnen|Autobahn]] network has no general speed limit for light vehicles (although there are speed limits in many sections today, and there is an {{convert|80|km/h|abbr=on}} limit for trucks). The country's most important waterway is the river [[Rhine]], and largest port is that of [[Hamburg]]. [[Frankfurt Airport]] is a major international airport and European transport hub. [[Air travel]] is used for greater distances within Germany but faces competition from the state-owned [[Deutsche Bahn]]'s rail network. High-speed trains called [[Intercity-Express|ICE]] connect cities for passenger travel with speeds up to 300&nbsp;km/h. Many German cities have [[Rapid transit in Germany|rapid transit]] systems and [[public transport]] is available in most areas. Buses have historically only played a marginal role in long-distance passenger service, as all routes directly competing with rail services were technically outlawed by a law dating to 1935 (during the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] era). Only in 2012 was this law officially amended and thus a long-distance bus market has also emerged in Germany since then.<ref>https://www.dw.com/en/regulations-eased-on-long-distance-busing/a-16354136</ref>

Since [[German reunification]] substantial effort has been made to improve and expand transport infrastructure in what was formerly [[East Germany]].<ref>[http://www.bundesregierung.de/nn_80758/Content/DE/Artikel/2001-2006/2006/09/2006-09-13-gute-infrastruktur-in-den-neuen-laendern.html bundesregierung.de] - The federal government says 40% of €164,000,000,000 spent on transport infrastructure where spent in the eastern part</ref> Due to Germany's varied history, main traffic flows have changed from primarily east–west (old Prussia and the [[German Empire]]) to primarily north–south (the 1949-1990 [[German partition]] era) to a more balanced flow with both major north–south and east–west corridors, both domestically and in transit. Infrastructure, which was further hampered by the havoc wars and [[scorched earth]] policies as well as reparations wrought, had to be adjusted and upgraded with each of those shifts.

'''''Verkehrsmittel''''' ({{IPA|de|fɛɐ̯ˈkeːɐ̯sˌmɪtl̩|lang|audio=De-Verkehrsmittel.ogg}}) '''''and Verkehrszeichen''''' - [[Road signs in Germany|Transportation signs in Germany]] are available here in German and English.