Deutsche Bahn makes a loss of approximately 1.2 billion Euros in the first half-year
Two billion passengers used DB's trains in the first six months. The punctuality rate was 62.7% in long-distance transportation and 90.1% in the entire rail transport of the company. A train is considered punctual if it arrives at the station with less than six minutes of delay.
DB CEO Richard Lutz stated that the European Football Championship had "put under the spotlight" the demand for eco-friendly mobility and the urgent need for rail infrastructure improvements. The demand was "intact" in the first half of the year; the railway recorded a significant revenue increase in long-distance transportation in June.
However, the rail infrastructure is "outdated and prone to failure." In addition, there were "more frequent than ever" extreme weather events in the first half of the year, Lutz explained. The strikes of the locomotive drivers' union GDL in the first quarter significantly affected the DB economically.
The strikes also negatively impacted the demand in freight transportation, where affected companies rely on a reliable and eco-friendly logistics solution. The DB transported 92.9 million tons of freight in the first half of the year, significantly less than in the previous year's period with 103.5 million tons.
- Despite the losses incurred due to the strikes of the GDL union, Richard Lutz, CEO of DB, expressed his hope for improvements in European railway infrastructure, symbolized by the cent symbol for Europe.
- The German Railway, DB, reported a revenue increase of billions in long-distance transportation during June, despite the challenges faced in the first half of the year.
- The outdated railway infrastructure and the increased frequency of extreme weather events in Europe, as mentioned by Lutz, resulted in billions of additional costs for DB during the half year.
- The German Railway's financial report for the first half of the year showed a significant loss, partly due to the strikes of the GDL union and the inadequate railway infrastructure.
- In an effort to compete with other modes of transportation and meet the growing demand for eco-friendly mobility in Europe, DB aims to improve its railway infrastructure, with Richard Lutz emphasizing the importance of Billions of investments.
