Deutsche Bahn: Investments worth billions, but still unpunctual!

Deutsche Bahn: Investments worth billions, but still unpunctual!

The reliability of Deutsche Bahn is increasingly being questioned. More and more travelers are facing inconvenience as the number of delayed and canceled trains continues to rise. 2024 in particular was a difficult year in which timetables had to be changed between two and three million times energiezukunft.eu reported. The number of cancellations on long-distance trains has actually doubled since 2019, and more than a third of long-distance trains are not on time.

Once again it turns out that the canceled trains are not counted as late, but are included in the category of unpunctual trains. This practice partially obscures the real problems facing Deutsche Bahn. Despite decades of government support, the situation remains tense.

Financing and investments

The federal government has been investing in the renovation of the rail infrastructure for many years. In 2023, almost 9.2 billion euros were available, and around 22 billion euros are planned in the budget for 2025, including 9 billion from a special fund. These funds are intended for the modernization of the existing network, digitalization and the general renovation of the high-performance route network.

Nevertheless, there are critical voices. Experts criticize that state aid is not adequately monitored. Kay Mitusch from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) says that Deutsche Bahn receives more financial resources if it delivers poorer quality. This inefficiency has a noticeable impact on the quality of service travelers expect.

Causes and challenges

The Performance and Financing Agreement (LuFV), which has existed since 2009, sets quality standards, but refers exclusively to the infrastructure and ignores other causes of delays. As a result, passengers suffer from constant delays, which are divided into initial and subsequent delays. Transport scientist Gernot Liedtke from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) explains that unclear causes of delays can lead to incorrect priorities in the use of resources.

Another problem is the disregard for track maintenance and the inadequate cooperation between the various subsidiaries of Deutsche Bahn, as Markus Hecht from the Technical University of Berlin criticizes. In order to meet the challenges, it is recommended to invest more in the maintenance of vehicles, switches and signal boxes. The railway's planned equity increase could require authentication, but there is a lack of precise purpose definitions, project lists or timetables.

The current development is alarming and shows that inadequate measures are necessary to ensure the reliability of Deutsche Bahn. Only through targeted investments and better control of the use of resources can the railway sustainably improve its services and regain the trust of passengers. Further details on these topics can be found in the reports from Mirror.