Deutsche Bahn offers a little more punctuality and reliability
The German Railway has promised more punctuality and reliability for the second half of the year. "We are expecting an improvement in punctuality in the second half of the year," said Bahnchef Richard Lutz during the presentation of the half-yearly balance in Berlin. Concretely, it is planned that between 63 and 67 percent of long-distance trains will have been on time without major delays by the end of the year.
However, reliability must significantly improve in the coming months. In the first half of the year, this figure was only 62.7 percent.
The reasons for this were not only strikes and poor infrastructure, but also unexpected extreme weather events. "These alone have cost us a total of around seven percentage points of punctuality," emphasized Lutz.
To make trains more punctual in the short term, the railway reportedly intends to keep more vehicles in reserve to react to disruptions and failures. The ICE 4, which makes up a large part of the long-distance train fleet, are to be prioritized for short-term maintenance work, so that they can quickly return to service.
- Maintaining punctuality and reliability is crucial for the German Railway, especially in the second half of the year, as they aim to exceed the 62.7% achieved in the first half.
- Viewing the issue from a broader perspective, the German Railway attributes the poor punctuality not only to strikes and infrastructure issues but also to unexpected extreme weather events, which accounted for around seven percentage points.
- For improving punctuality in the immediate future, the German Railway is planning to keep more vehicles in reserve and prioritize short-term maintenance work on the ICE 4 trains, aiming to minimize disruptions and failures.
