analysis
Status: 03/30/2023 2:37 p.m
The number of passengers on the train is rising sharply. She is also doing better financially. The management wants to make them the means of transport of the future – and treat themselves to higher salaries. The present shows: The railway is at the limit.
Bahn boss Richard Lutz can announce relatively good news: Around 40 percent more passengers in long-distance traffic, more sales than ever before and an operating profit of 1.3 billion euros. The balance sheet for 2022 looks significantly better than that of previous years. The railway has finally left the Corona low behind. More people than ever before want to travel by train in Germany.
Paradoxically, this is where the problem lies. Because the train can no longer. The rail network is already almost fully utilized today: it is simply not possible to let more trains run. And the trains that run are less punctual than ever before.
Late, later, Deutsche Bahn
65.2 percent of long-distance trains arrived on time in 2022 – i.e. less than six minutes late, according to the definition. Conversely, this means that the risk of being late was more than a third. Stupid for train customers – especially if they want to catch a connecting train.
Again and again, the railway leads the investment backlog in the rail network as the main reason for the unpunctuality in the field. And indeed, in many places the tracks and railway embankments are outdated, bridges are dilapidated and signal boxes are prone to failure. The railway’s strategy: entire sections are to be modernized with extensive general renovations. But that also means: full closures for important connections for months. And the program will run for years.
decade of construction sites
Bahn boss Lutz only promises slight improvements for the near future. His modest goal: “We want to improve our punctuality this year to well over 70 percent.” More does not seem possible in view of the overcrowded tracks and many construction sites.
Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who took part in the press conference on Deutsche Bahn’s balance sheet, gave a dry answer to the question of when Deutsche Bahn will be able to keep to its timetable to some extent: “Bahn will be on time when we have created the high-performance network. And we are upgrading this high-performance network in this decade.” So 2030 as the target for a more punctual railway: That shows how big the task is for the state-owned company.
Critics such as the head of the GDL train drivers’ union, Claus Weselsky, see the permanent construction sites as a fig leaf behind which the railway board can hide while the group’s trains run late for years: “Now you have a new excuse, along the lines of: We’ll do it now general renovation and then the punctuality will be impossible anyway.”
silverware for sale?
In the meantime, Deutsche Bahn is doing better economically than last time. However, the operating profit of more than one billion euros does not come from the core business – passenger transport. The company continues to make losses here. The logistics subsidiary DB Schenker meanwhile shines with the sixth record year in a row. Operating profit rose to a whopping EUR 1.8 billion in 2022. That more than made up for the loss of minus 600 million euros from the railway business.
DB Schenker transports goods worldwide, by ship, truck and plane. In times of tight supply chains, many customers rely on the company’s reliability – this was also reflected in the results. But the future of the only reliable “cash cow” in the group is uncertain since the federal government, as the sole owner, gave the order to examine a sale. Deutsche Bahn emphasizes that a sale can only be considered if it makes economic sense. The exam is still running.
Loss of billions expected for this year
For the current year, Deutsche Bahn is not expecting a profit for the entire group. Instead, the operating minus should amount to around one billion euros according to current estimates. The background to this is the increased energy costs, higher purchase prices for goods and services and a potentially significant wage increase for employees.
Above all, however, the urgently needed investments in the infrastructure have an impact. The company intends to make advance payments here without any funding commitments from the federal government. According to the company, the rail network is so dilapidated that renovation cannot be postponed.
Increased remuneration and bonuses for the Management Board
The top management itself received more money last year. Bahn boss Lutz’s remuneration has more than doubled compared to 2021 and, according to the annual report, was 2.24 million euros. They consist of a base salary of almost 970,000 euros and a bonus of more than 1.26 million.
Infrastructure board member Berthold Huber ended up with a total remuneration of 1.41 million euros (2021: 662,000 euros), HR board member Martin Seiler earned 1.39 million euros (2021: 659,000 euros). A performance-related bonus was paid to all Management Board members in the past year. According to the annual reports, the board members did not receive such bonuses in 2021 and 2020.