German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB)’s punctuality problems will persist until 2024, according to data published by the company on Friday.
According to its latest figures, only 62.5% of DB ICE and IC long distance trains arrived within 6 minutes of arrival time last year.
This figure is slightly worse than in 2023 when 64% of long distance trains arrived on time.
Why the delay?
DB listed several reasons why punctuality in German rail transport continues to decline from 2021.
The rail operator said a large amount of disruption was caused by “old and overloaded infrastructure”, while the large number of construction activities destabilized the schedule.
The DB said there has also been an increase in traffic at major transport hubs, putting pressure on infrastructure.
The “tight labor market” was also cited among the reasons for the delay, which DB said had made it difficult to meet personnel requirements.
Extreme weather events have not helped matters, DB said, with flooding in southern Germany in June 2024 causing significant damage to infrastructure.
DB says it has prepared ‘punctuality action plan’
The company said it has prepared a “punctuality action plan” in an effort to improve.
“The core of the action plan includes increasing the timely start of train operations, removing exceptional speed limits on line sections, increasing the technical availability of the vehicle fleet and stabilization at major transport hubs,” the DB said in its interim report.
Punctuality figures for Germany’s regional trains tell a different story. In 2024, 90.3% of regional passenger trains arrived within six minutes of the scheduled time, slightly below the 91.0% mark in 2023.
In 2020, 95.6% of stops in regional transport and 81.8% of stops in long-distance transport arrived on time.
This article uses material provided by German news agency dpa
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
