Preparatory work is to begin in the summer of 2012 to construct, in Halle, what will be one of Europe's most modern marshalling yards.

This is the successful outcome of many years of preparation by Deutsche Bahn. Deutsche Bahn AG is aiming to renew the outdated infrastructure at the site of the existing marshalling yard in Halle.

The development will make Halle a key freight hub in the single wagon marshalling segment for central Germany. The new marshalling yard in Halle sends an important signal on the strength of the central German economic region, whose transport and strategic role the project will significantly improve. Numerous new marshalling sidings and over 100 new sets of points are to be constructed at the site and existing sidings overhauled by 2017.

Ultra-modern marshalling technology and a modern signal box are in future to control the joining and separation of freight trains.

The highest percentage of day care use in Germany was on 1st March 2011 in three districts in Saxony-Anhalt:

In the Salzlandkreis district (82.4 %) and the districts of Wittenberg (80.6 %) and Jerichower-Land (80.1 %) around four out of every five one-year-old children in their parents’ care were also looked after at childcare day facilities or by childminders.

The highest percentage of one-year-olds in day care in western Germany was in the city of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg (44.9%). Only five eastern German cities and districts reported figures below this level. After Heidelberg, the Bavarian city of Erlangen (39.4 %) and the city state of Hamburg (38.1 %) had the highest rates of childcare use in the western German states.

For children aged two, child day care in all eastern German districts and municipalities - with the exception of the Saxon Erzgebirgskreis district (69.8 %) - was over 70 %. Only four districts in western German had such a high percentage. The highest percentage of two-year-olds in day care in an eastern German district was 94.1 % in Gera, Thuringia, in March 2011; in western Germany, the highest figure was 76.8 % in the district of Südliche Weinstraße (Rhineland-Palatinate). This and further information on child day care is presented in a joint report by the federal and regional German offices of statistics, “Regional child day care in 2011” (“Kindertagesbetreuung regional 2011”), which contains data on the childcare situation in all 412 districts in Germany.

As well as providing data on the percentage of children under three in day care, the report contains findings on childcare for children between the ages of three and five. It also presents data on children up to the age of five in all-day care, and information on children in day care of whom one parent at least is from abroad.