Good to know for travelers: some key figures of Deutsche Bahn from 2024
Deutsche Bahn's long-distance trains were particularly often late in 2024: 37.5 percent of stops were reached with a delay of at least six minutes, according to the company. This was mostly due to outdated infrastructure.
More than one in three Deutsche Bahn long-distance trains were not on time last year: 37.5 percent of stops were reached with a delay of more than 5:59 minutes; 62.5 percent of ICE and IC trains were on time, a company spokesperson announced. According to the news agency dpa, Deutsche Bahn was therefore more unpunctual than it has been for at least 21 years.
On request, the company provided figures going back to 2003. So far, the lowest value was 64 percent in 2023 after 65.2 percent the year before. The best figure was 84.3 percent in 2004. “80 percent of all delays in long-distance transport are due to the outdated, fault-prone and overloaded infrastructure,” said the spokesperson.
According to the definition, a stop is reached on time if the train is less than 6:00 minutes late. In regional transport, this was the case for 90.3 percent of trains - compared to 91.0 percent in 2023. In 2020, 95.6 percent of stops in regional transport and 81.8 percent in long-distance transport were reached on time.
Almost 17 billion invested in infrastructure
At the same time, the spokesperson referred to the railroad's current refurbishment program. By 2030, the Group intends to fundamentally renovate 41 busy corridors. The railroad started in 2024 with the section between Frankfurt and Mannheim - the so-called Riedbahn. The general refurbishments are also intended to ensure more punctual trains. “DB wants to increase the punctuality of ICE and IC trains to 75 to 80 percent by the end of 2027,” said the spokesperson.
However, in a recent interview with dpa, Philipp Nagl, the Deutsche Bahn manager responsible, dampened passengers' hopes for a rapid and broad impact of the Riedbahn renovation on long-distance services. The effect on local transport will be noticeable. However, with regard to the long-distance trains and the 10,000 kilometers of track they travel, he said: “Of course, the 70 kilometers won't change the world. But they will provide a good deal of stability in the system.”
Deutsche Bahn had invested almost 17 billion euros in infrastructure in 2024, said the CEO of rail infrastructure company InfraGo. That is more than it has been for years. “If we continue to invest at this level over the next two or three years, we will see a reduction in the susceptibility of the infrastructure to disruption and an increase in the quality of train services across the entire network.”
Few disruptions over Christmas
According to the company, rail traffic was largely stable and smooth over the Christmas holidays at least - and surprisingly punctual. On December 24 and 25, the punctuality rate for long-distance services was more than 80 percent, according to earlier DB figures. This means that trains were significantly more punctual than the annual average. The main reason for this is likely to have been the reduced construction activity during the holidays and less freight traffic, with which the long-distance trains share the tracks.
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Source text translated with DeepL