Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance trains were a little more punctual in September than before. Nevertheless, the delay rate remains high.
Also in September, more than one in three Deutsche Bahn long-distance trains were delayed. The punctuality rate for ICE and IC trains was 62.4 percent last month, as the federally owned company announced. That was around 1.8 percentage points better than the month before. But the rail system is still not really reliable compared to its own requirements.
A train is considered late in the statistics if it is delayed by six minutes or more. Since this year, the railway has also been reporting the so-called passenger punctuality in long-distance transport every month. It measures what percentage of passengers reached their destination on time during the respective period, i.e. with a maximum delay of 14 minutes and 59 seconds. Unlike operational punctuality, train cancellations are also taken into account.
According to Deutsche Bahn, this rate was 67.9 percent in September. This is also an improvement of 3.9 percentage points compared to the previous month. However, the current quota is also well away from previous peak values.
The railway always points to the dilapidated infrastructure and the numerous construction sites that are therefore necessary as the main reason for the high level of unpunctuality. With a large-scale renovation program, important routes are to be fundamentally modernized in the coming years. The company promises that punctuality will improve little by little.
Source: Stern
