German rail woes: How can Deutsche Bahn turn things around?

Germany's railway system was once a source of national pride. But the network and its operator, Deutsche Bahn (DB), have become a major source of frustration for train travelers in recent years.

Passengers are increasingly confronted with overcrowding, delays and cancellations, as well as regular closures of large sections of track for maintenance and repair works.

DB's problems also grabbed attention abroad during the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, which took place in Germany between June 14 and July 14.

Train breakdowns and overcrowded platforms made international news and caused acute embarrassment in a country that has a reputation for efficiency, punctuality and top-quality infrastructure. 

What's behind DB troubles?

Train delays with DB have steadily risen, with less than two-thirds of long-distance trains reaching their destination on time last year –– a new record low. In Germany today, a train is considered punctual if it is delayed by less than six minutes. 

DB's finances are also in bad shape. In the first half of this year, the company reported a loss of over €1.2 billion (roughly $1.3 billion). Its total debt now amounts to around €34 billion.

DB's troubles stem in part from decades of neglect and chronic underinvestment.

"The problem is that Germany has neglected its rail infrastructure far too long," said Sabrina Wendling of Pro-Rail Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy organization in Berlin focusing on the improvement of rail transport.

"At the same time, demand for passenger traffic and rail freight has grown enormously," she added.

Over the past three decades, the rail infrastructure in Europe's largest economy has come under growing stress.

While passenger traffic and freight transported on trains have surged, the network has shrunk, said Pro-Rail Alliance. 

Andreas Knie, mobility researcher at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), blames the situation on policy choices favoring road transport over rail.

"For decades, Germany has prioritized the car and road infrastructure," he said. 

Philipp Kosok, a transportation expert at the Berlin-based think tank Agora Verkehrswende, echoed this view.

"The railroads compete primarily with road transport, which is heavily subsidized through tax subsidies that are problematic for climate protection reasons," he told DW, adding that the "same applies to air traffic."

"DB also has to pay very high network charges. All rail companies have to pay fees to be able to use the infrastructure. In the case of road transport, however, users don't have to pay any tolls for using German roads," Kosok pointed out.

More investment, but not enough?

But Germany's current coalition government, made up of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the environmentalist Greens and the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), is keen to promote trains over cars as part of its efforts to meet climate goals and slash greenhouse gas emissions caused by road transport.

It has vowed to double passenger transport via train by 2030, while increasing the share of freight carried by rail to 25%.

To this end, the government has announced plans to funnel billions of euros into modernizing rail infrastructure.

The plan involves overhauling thousands of kilometers of track as well as bridges, stations and outdated train equipment such as signal boxes and switches.

Last month, DB launched the first phase of the massive renovation program, starting with works to upgrade the 70-kilometer (45-mile) stretch connecting Frankfurt and Mannheim.

"The current federal government is investing more in the rail network than its predecessor, but it's not investing as much as would actually be necessary to modernize or even expand the entire network," said Kosok.

According to Pro-Rail Alliance, government spending on rail infrastructure in Germany amounted to just €115 per capita in 2023.

It said that neighboring countries such as Austria (€336 per capita) and Switzerland (€477 per capita) invest considerably more.

"Since 2024, the state has been investing significantly more in the rail than in the road infrastructure," said Wendling of Pro-Rail Alliance. "However, we need to invest even more than that, as construction costs have risen dramatically and we definitely have to build more train routes and new train routes to increase capacity on the railway."

Call for structural reforms

But more money alone, without structural reforms and changes to DB's organization, offers no solution to the overloaded train infrastructure.

Kosok said the government lacks a "clear strategy" for putting DB on a growth path. Germany hasn't been able to implement clear and consistent policies for promoting rail transport for decades, unlike in neighboring countries like Switzerland, he noted.

DB is a fully state-owned company, but operated like a private firm.

"The company has a completely wrong and complex structure –– it's a hybrid model, being a public sector entity on the one hand, while operating in a highly competitive market environment on the other," said WZB mobility expert Knie.

He called for a more integrated railroad company –– eliminating DB's dual public and private structure –– to improve coordination and efficiency.

"Good railroads are integrated railroads, where the network and operations belong together. There must be no separation between them and they have to be operated as one unit," he underlined.

What's needed in the long run?

There is also a need for long-term planning and policy certainty, said the experts.

"Making the rail infrastructure future-proof is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. We can only achieve this with a strongly committed government and a reliable financing structure for several years," said Wendling.

 As railroads involve large-scale and complex infrastructure, it requires long-term planning and policy certainty, said Kososk.

"If we decide on a certain strategy today, we have to stick with it for many years in order to really reap the rewards," he noted. 

"Even future governments will have to commit themselves more to rail transport, pump more investment, implement structural reforms, and reform the entire financial structure of the transport economy by gradually eliminating the climate-damaging subsidies," he added.

Edited by: Rob Mudge