Rail traffic: Are fewer trains a solution to the punctuality problem?

Several transport associations have warned against having fewer trains in long -distance transport to increase punctuality. “The offer for customers must never be reduced as a quick shot, especially in the area network,” said the Federal Chairman of the Traffic Club in Germany (VCD), Matthias Kurzeck. Together with the associations Allianz Pro Schiene and the Pro Bahn passenger association, he appealed to the federal government to look for other solutions so that the trains of the railways will be more reliable in the future.

“More punctuality through fewer trains is false logic”

“We fear that the ministry order for” offer optimization “on the simple, but in this general false logic” more punctuality “is” out of less features “, it said by Dirk Flege, Managing Director of Allianz Pro. “More trains on the rail network do not necessarily mean less punctuality, such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Austria with their higher utilization.”

Although significantly more trains are traveling in these countries per route kilometer, punctuality in long -distance transport is significantly higher than in Germany.

In this country, significantly more than a third of all ICE and IC trains were on the road with a delay of at least six minutes in the first half of this year. From this border, Deutsche Bahn considers it to be unpunctual. The main reason for the high unreliability is the overloaded and dilapidated infrastructure in many places. Many main routes are in need of renovation, important traffic nodes such as Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt or Berlin are also completely overloaded.

Working group “reliable train”

Around a week ago, the Federal Transport Minister presented key points for a rail reform, in which the high unpunctuality is also mentioned. The minister issues the goal that around 70 percent of all long -distance trains should be traveling again on time by the end of 2029. How this goal is to be achieved in concrete terms remains largely open. In the paper, the BMV announces that they want to set up a “reliable railway” working group, which should deal with the concrete implementation of the agenda.

“This committee, which was previously designed without passenger associations, should” deal with optimization of the offer in highly stressed nodes “, the three associations criticize. They fear that it could primarily be a reduction in rail traffic.

“The rail travelers want more and no less rail traffic,” said the deputy Pro-Bahn federal chairman, Lukas Iffländer. The reliability must improve by renovating the network and reducing causes of delay such as door disorders.