The train maintains its lowest velocity to ensure punctuality.
In September, approximately 38% of Deutsche Bahn's long-distance trains ran late, which is slightly less than the previous month. According to Deutsche Bahn, the punctuality rate for ICE and IC trains was 62.4% last month, a 1.8-point improvement over the previous month. Despite this improvement, Deutsche Bahn's own standards consider the system as still not reliable enough.
To be considered late in the statistics, a train must be delayed by six minutes or more. Since the beginning of the year, Deutsche Bahn has also been releasing a metric known as passenger punctuality in long-distance traffic each month. This measure considers the percentage of passengers who reached their destination on time, with a maximum delay of 14 minutes and 59 seconds. This takes into account train cancellations, unlike operational punctuality.
According to Deutsche Bahn, the passenger punctuality rate was 67.9% in September, an improvement of 3.9 points over the previous month. However, this is still far from previous peak values.
Deutsche Bahn consistently blames dilapidated infrastructure and numerous construction sites as the main reasons for the high level of unreliability. The company plans to undertake a large-scale renovation program to modernize important routes in the coming years, which they promise will gradually improve punctuality.
The current state of Deutsche Bahn's economy might be influenced by the ongoing issues with train punctuality, as the company spends significant resources to address delays caused by dilapidated infrastructure and construction sites. Despite the recent improvement in operational punctuality for ICE and IC trains, the passenger punctuality rate remains lower than previous peak values, impacting the overall satisfaction of passengers using Deutsche Bahn's long-distance services.
