One of the railway’s goals is to double the volume of passenger transport – that means more kilometres travelled and more passengers. Did that work in the first half of the year?
In the first half of the year, Deutsche Bahn transported significantly fewer people on long-distance trains across the country than in the same period last year. According to the company, 64.2 million travelers used long-distance trains in the first six months of the current year – six percent fewer than in the first half of 2023. Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz cited extreme weather events, dilapidated infrastructure, strikes and accidents as reasons for the weaker demand and significantly worse punctuality.
The decline in demand extends the list of problems at Deutsche Bahn. Recently, the company has always stressed that demand for rail travel is constantly increasing – despite all the problems with punctuality, for example. One of Deutsche Bahn’s long-term goals is to double its passenger transport performance – that is, more kilometers driven and more passengers.
When presenting the half-yearly financial statements, DB CFO Levin Holle emphasized that an upward trend had already been evident in June. June 2024 was the month with the highest revenue in the history of long-distance transport. In regional transport, the group recorded an increase in the number of passengers of six percent compared to the first six months of 2023.
Punctuality in long-distance traffic was 62.7 percent in the first half of the year – a significant deterioration compared to the first half of 2023. The situation was particularly difficult in June. Flooding, dam damage and landslides occurred in several regions, which also affected rail traffic. Almost every second train was delayed, i.e. had a delay of at least six minutes. The punctuality rate in June was 52.9 percent.
Source: Stern
