German minister wants DB to make cuts and trains run on time

German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said on Tuesday in Berlin that national state-owned rail company Deutsche Bahn (DB) must improve punctuality, particularly for long-distance services, and also to find savings in areas like administration and management while reducing losses or improving profitability.

He said that it was up to company executives to come up with and execute a precise plan, to be completed by 2027, but that he wanted quarterly progress reports showing whether targets were being met. 

Wissing is not likely to receive very many of these reports himself given that Germany's next federal elections are scheduled for September 28, 2025.

Bahn failings in focus after Euros in Germany, amid rail network modernization drive

Although declining punctuality, frequent strikes, and other rail issues had long been a domestic sore point, the issue attracted more international attention this summer as Germany hosted the Euro 2024 football competition. 

Horror stories from traveling fans about missed matches and late arrivals, many of whom expressed surprise about the problems in a country once famed for its passion for punctuality and well-maintained infrastructure and public transport, added a degree of embarrassment to the existing frustration for German commuters and politicians.

Compounding matters since then, a major rail network modernization program began almost immediately after the competition.

While it is billed as something that will ultimately bring significant improvements, in the short term it will result in lengthy closures, diversions and delays on key rail lines around the country, spanning several years in total.

What did the transport minister say? 

The most pressing demand from Volker Wissing, of the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), was that the punctuality of high-speed long-distance services be "improved considerably in the short term."

He also wanted to see overcrowding on these services reduced.

Wissing called for a "streamlining" of the company, saying this should particularly affect adminstration and management. The Transport Ministry's statement on the issue said DB needed to get rid of duplicate structures and improve "personnel productivity." 

"We want a reform program that runs until 2027 and brings continual improvements," Wissing said in Berlin, saying it would also involve "close-knit" observation from his ministry. "I will be personally informed if a target is missed in a quarter."

Wissing criticized losses by the company's DB Fernverkehr, which operates its freight and long-distance services, saying that subsidiary must optimize the use of its trains and return to more financially sustainable operations. 

He also called for improvements and savings when buying new trains, more rapid digitalization in the company, and making the rail network more resilient to the affects of climate change. 

Blames past failures, says government provided 'advance payment'

Wissing said that when he had taken up the job in 2020, he found Deutsche Bahn in bad shape, describing the state of the rail network and its upkeep as "desolate" in places. 

However, he argued that the federal government, which owns 100% of DB shares, had started taking steps to turn this around during his tenure. 

He pointed to the establishment of an infrastructure division for DB at the beginning of the year, the start of the general rail network overhaul and improved financial support from the government budget as examples. 

"We stepped in and provided advance payment, now the Bahn must also deliver," he said. 

msh/wmr (AFP, dpa)