"Chancellor Merkel's coalition government has made an important contribution to the economic upswing by introducing investment programmes for energy-saving technologies, and measures to encourage small business investment, " said Gustav Horn, director of the Macroeconomic Policy Institute.

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The government had embarked on "one of the biggest investment programmes in our railways since the Victorian era", he said, during which it was "also vital that the industry looks to how it can provide better value for money for both taxpayers and farepayers while delivering the safe, competitive railway that passengers expect".

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"This is why we need faster investment in infrastructure programmes and community benefit clauses in UK procurement, just as France and Germany do to support their own manufacturing industry, " he said.

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