Wissing promises "general overhaul" of Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn's punctuality reaches a new low in November: 75 percent of all long-distance trains reach their destination late. The Federal Minister of Transport draws conclusions and promises to restore the punctuality of the railroad through longer-term renovation work.
Last month, Deutsche Bahn achieved its worst punctuality record for eight years. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing wants to respond to the increasing delays with a "general overhaul": There is "no way around this if we want to have more punctual trains again", the minister told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers.
In November, only 52 percent of ICE and IC trains reached their destination on time, a DB spokesperson told Bild am Sonntag. 75 percent of long-distance trains were slowed down by at least one construction site on their journey in November, the DB spokesperson told the newspaper. "Due to the massive refurbishment backlog, DB has had to significantly increase the construction volume in the current year," the Group spokesperson added according to "BamS".
Longer-term construction sites necessary
According to the company, the main reason for the poor figures is the "short-term construction activity", which has increased significantly year-on-year. In November 2023, the number of construction sites had increased by eleven percent compared to the previous year. Wissing told the Funke newspapers that the punctuality rate was "unsatisfactory" and was due to decades of neglecting the infrastructure.
The core renovation of the Riedbahn between Mannheim and Frankfurt next year will have a "positive effect on reliability and punctuality throughout Germany", he announced. A few days ago, the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) had already warned of a collapse of the railroads in view of the tight budget situation. Without the planned billion-euro investments in the rail infrastructure, "the general overhaul is on the brink of collapse", EVG Chairman Martin Burkert told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung".
According to the "Bams" report, punctuality fell by nine percentage points last month compared to November 2022. In January 2023, 73.2 percent of trains were still on time, but by the middle of the year the figure had fallen to 63.5 percent before reaching its current low in November.
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The minister's proposed "general overhaul" of Deutsche Bahn involves a significant increase in longer-term construction sites, as noted by the company spokesperson. Wissing acknowledges that the poor punctuality rates are a result of decades of neglecting the railroad's infrastructure in Germany. Following the general refurbishment plan, the core renovation of the Riedbahn between Mannheim and Frankfurt is expected to have a positive impact on overall reliability and punctuality of trains on the German railroad.
Source: www.ntv.de
