2024-09-24 16:19:20
Those who travel by train are now planning with generous time buffers, because delays are at a record high. The company wants to take countermeasures.
Cancellations, delays, defects: Many customers are annoyed with Deutsche Bahn; trust has dropped significantly. The company has also understood this. Michael Peterson, board member for long-distance passenger transport, said in a press conference on Tuesday: “2024 was a painful year for Deutsche Bahn.”
According to Peterson, the main reasons for this were strikes, extreme weather and dilapidated infrastructure. After “extremely strong” demand in 2023, punctuality in particular suffered as a result. In August, punctuality in long-distance traffic was just 60.6 percent.
The railway board wants to improve this significantly in the coming years. The ambitious goal: by 2027, punctuality should increase to more than 75 percent. “The basic prerequisite for this is a functioning infrastructure,” said Peterson.
This is to be renovated in many places in the coming years, with the focus being on 41 particularly important corridors. According to the railway, 80 percent of the delays are currently due to the poor condition of the railway lines, and Peterson is not responsible for this as a long-distance transport authority.
However, the ongoing renovation of the Riedbahn line still gives him hope, because everything is going according to plan. In order not to further jeopardize punctuality with the many planned construction projects, construction will increasingly take place around the timetable in the future, instead of adapting the timetable each time, as has been the case up to now.
In addition, the railway wants to become faster in several areas, both in processes and in the trains themselves. The so-called turbo turnaround is intended to save up to 70 minutes in cleaning and re-readying trains. This will free up capacity in the factories.
The longer ICE 4 trains will also receive a software update. In cooperation with the manufacturer, the railway has increased the maximum speed from 250 to 265 km/h. However, these will not be used regularly, but will serve as a buffer to compensate for any delays.
More sprinters and international connections
Deutsche Bahn also wants to respond to customer requests with additional offers. Despite pressure to save money, cutting back on long-distance traffic is not a solution given the limited capacity on the heavily used network, as it only accounts for a fraction of rail traffic in Germany.
According to Peterson, the 2025 timetable will already include slightly more Sprinter connections, i.e. ICE journeys with only a few stops between the start and end stations. “By December 2026, 20 major German cities will be connected to the nationwide long-distance transport network with an ICE service every half hour,” said Peterson.
More international trips are also planned in the medium term. “This is another way we are responding to passengers’ wishes,” said Peterson. From mid-December, for example, there will be a new direct connection from Berlin to the French capital Paris. The journey time will be around eight hours; tickets for second class will start at €59.99 including seat reservation.
There had previously been lively discussions about the route. Now it has been decided: in future, the trains will travel via Frankfurt South, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg. According to Deutsche Bahn, this will also be the first direct connection per day between Berlin and Strasbourg, the headquarters of the European Parliament.
Deutsche Bahn is also extending the advance booking period: This means that from October 16, customers can book tickets for the entire coming year, instead of just for the first six months as before. The timetable for the coming year will also be available by then.