## 5 Results  
In this section, the budget allocations and prioritization strategies presented in Section 4 are analyzed regarding their impact on infrastructure quality.  
Four comparative calculations are performed in order to calculate this. In each of the four scenarios considered, budget allocations that are already available are assumed for medium-term planning, and the exact planning of the assets to be replaced is considered. Therefore, budget allocation only has an impact on the prognosis of the BAQ grade from the sixth year onward (long-term period). However, prioritization differs from the reference scenario from the beginning so that an influence is directly recognizable.  
In the first scenario, which is used as a reference scenario, the budgets for both the replacement and the preventative/reactive maintenance resources in the long-term period are determined based on the medium-term planning already available. Thus, the budget allocation \"According to averaged medium-term percentages\" is used. In this scenario, the prioritization of replacement and maintenance measures is condition based.  
Figure 6: Correlation between budget allocation and prioritization.  
In the second scenario, the prioritization is also condition based, but in this case, long-term planning budgets are distributed according to prioritization weights. This means that money is allocated to measures regarding the assets that are in the worst condition. These budget allocations and prioritizations are used for both maintenance and replacement investments.  
In the third scenario considered, budgets in the long-term period for replacement and maintenance measures are allocated to asset classes based on their shares from medium-term planning (\"According to averaged medium-term percentages\"). Prioritization, on the other hand, is based on the effect a measure has on the BAQ grade. In this way, an optimized result is achieved within each asset class regarding the grade.  
The fourth scenario considered also prioritizes the effect a replacement or maintenance measure has on the BAQ grade. In comparison to the third scenario, however, the budget is not distributed among asset classes but according to prioritization, which here means that the budget is distributed as optimized for the BAQ grade. Consequently, the best possible nationwide grade is achieved for the available budget. Table 4 lists the analyzed scenarios considered in terms of budget allocation and prioritization strategy.  
BAQ grades are predicted for the four scenarios described. The first scenario is used as a reference scenario so that the results of this evaluation can be compared to the reference scenario. The comparison of the results is shown in Figure 7. Budget allocations and prioritization strategies are shown to have a significant impact on the BAQ grade. While the strategies prioritizing the effect of a measure on the BAQ grade have an improved BAQ grade compared to the reference scenario (scenario 1), the BAQ trajectory worsens for the strategy that prioritizes and allocates the budget according to the worst condition (scenario 2). A total of around 5400 stations and 700 station buildings are included in the prediction. This corresponds to the number of stations and station buildings in Germany [21; 22].  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Scenario** & **Budget Allocation** & **Prioritization** \\ \hline
1 & averaged medium-term percentages & condition-based prioritization \\
2 & prioritization weights & condition-based prioritization \\
3 & averaged medium-term percentages & effect of a measure on the BAQ grade \\
4 & prioritization weights & effect of a measure on the BAQ grade \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 4: The analyzed scenarios compared.  
Figure 7: Development of the BAQ grade in a comparison of different scenarios.