The punctuality rate of Deutsche Bahn leaves a lot to be desired. This is reported by the “Rheinische Post”. The newspaper has received an answer from the federal government to a small request from the Union faction.
The report states that only between 50 and 60 percent of long-distance trains arrived on schedule. In September, only 55 percent of the ICEs and ICs in the west of the country were on time, 63 percent in the south and north, almost 68 percent in the east and 58 percent in the middle of the country. In August, the figures were even lower: 48 percent in the west, 56 percent in the south, 59 percent in the north and 63 percent in the east. The railway lists its quotas by region and not by federal state.
The federal government expresses frustration: “In the opinion of the federal government, the current punctuality development is not satisfactory,” the answer also says. Local transport fares significantly better with a rate of over 90 percent.
Rail boss Richard Lutz has already announced that this year a punctuality rate of less than 70 percent would be achieved for long-distance trains. In 2023, however, this value is to be increased significantly, and he gave 80 percent as the company’s goal.
He sees problems above all in the “highly loaded railway hubs” of Hamburg, Cologne and Mannheim or on the routes through the Ruhr area. Deutsche Bahn wants to start the necessary corridor renovation in 2024.
The transport policy spokesman for the Union, Thomas Bareiß (CDU), told the “Rheinische Post”: “The punctuality rates of the train have reached a historic low.” He is also concerned about Germany as a business location, which is suffering from the consequences of the high loads in rail traffic.
In 2021, a total of 38.2 million euros in compensation was paid to passengers in local and long-distance traffic. The sum is likely to be significantly higher this year, experts suspect.
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