It remains one of the most enduring cliches about Germany for those who don’t live there: the trains run on time.
Except they don’t, and haven’t for a long time. Last year, one-third of trains from Deutsche Bahn (DB) — Germany’s state-owned rail company — were delayed. That number has been rising steadily for years.
It’s not just passengers who are affected. Some of Europe’s biggest logistics companies have repeatedly called out DB’s cargo and freight business in recent years for its persistent delays.
Being late is not the only problem. The company has consistently posted losses in recent years and is currently more than €30 billion ($32.6 billion) in debt. Passengers usually complain about overcrowded trains and expensive tickets.
The company is also plagued by industrial disputes. A 50-hour strike by railroad workers, beginning May 14, was called off at the last minute the day before. EVG, the union behind the strike, says negotiations on a wage increase are ongoing. The strikes in March and April have already caused significant disruption.
The company itself has no illusions about the scale of the problem. “The current operational situation is not acceptable for us, travelers or train companies,” a DB spokesperson told DW.
What’s the problem?
Jon Worth, a railway transportation analyst resident in Berlin, said that Germany’s railways are in a “delicate situation.” He says the main problem is widely recognized: a lack of investment in infrastructure.
“The railways in Germany are at the limit,” he told DW. “Germany runs a lot of trains on very old and outdated infrastructure and just doesn’t invest in tracks, bridges and signals as much as is necessary to get things running with a stable and reliable service.”
Karl-Peter Naumann, the honorary chairman of the public transport advocacy group PRO Bahn, agrees that outdated infrastructure is the main problem. “For customers, that means being punctual and, as a direct result, missing connecting trains,” he told DW.
As well as infrastructure not being upgraded, much is being actively dismantled without replacement. The total length of the railway network has been reduced by approximately 20% since 1994. The number of railway switches, which allow trains to move from one track to another, has been significantly reduced. too.
Worth says this leads to another problem: that rail networks are filled to capacity. So when a train breaks down, it can create major ripple effects throughout the network.
DB admits that lack of infrastructure is the main problem. A company spokesperson told DW that years of “inadequate” funding, combined with increased passenger demand, had brought the company’s problems to a head.
“The rail network can no longer cope,” the spokesman said. “In parts it is too old, too prone to failure and has too little capacity.”
Who is to blame?
The responsibility for the lack of investment goes back several decades, according to Worth. “Ultimately the problems stem from decisions made 20 years ago,” he said. Baumann agrees: “Too little has been invested in expanding and maintaining rail infrastructure over the past 30 years.”
This March, Germany’s Federal Court of Audit released a damning report that heavily criticized successive German governments and DB itself for what it called the company’s “permanent crisis.”
It criticized the company’s financial situation, saying that its debt – which stands at more than €30 billion – has increased by an average of €5 million per day since 2016.
Although the report was critical of the company, especially the fact that DB’s structure made it difficult for the government to review and manage it properly, it emphasized that decisive government action was urgently needed to stop the problems that get out of control.
“Major reforms are necessary to ensure that the rail system meets its role in transportation and climate policy,” said the president of the Federal Court of Audit, Kay Scheller.
What is being done and can it be improved?
Amidst all the criticism, the DB and the government have taken steps to begin addressing these ongoing problems. In March 2023, the government pledged to invest €45 billion in DB by 2027. The revitalization and restructuring of the company’s network is now a key plank of the government’s plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2045.
“By 2030, a real high-performance network will be created,” a DB spokesperson told DW.
Another initiative that DB hopes will win favor is the recently launched €49 monthly ticket. The ticket, which costs €49 per month as the name suggests, covers regional rail, metro, tram and bus networks across the country, and aims to get more people to use public transport.
Worth said DB is trying to upgrade its infrastructure, pointing to the wholesale renovation of the Frankfurt-Mannheim line as well as the purchase of a new fleet of high-speed ICE 3 Neo trains for long-distance travel .
DB has done a “reasonable job under very, very difficult circumstances,” he said, particularly the lack of investment, its dire financial situation and the fact that passenger numbers have increased dramatically in the past which is several decades.
The company insists it is now turning around. It told DW it is rapidly upgrading its infrastructure every day, including detour routes to limit the hit to timeliness when main routes are disrupted.
It says that climate-friendly mobility is emerging and it expects a record number of long-distance travelers in 2023. “This motivates us to be better for our customers as soon as possible, because the Germany deserves a railway that is more efficient and punctual,” the spokesman said.
Edited by: Tim Rooks
