From month to month it’s the same game at German train stations: late trains, angry passengers. Also in July, many ICE and IC trains were not punctual – according to Bahn due to construction sites and storm damage.
In July too, many long-distance Deutsche Bahn passengers did not arrive at their destination on time. As the group reported in its monthly statistics, only 64.1 percent of the ICE and Intercity trains were on time. That is a slight improvement on June (63.5 percent) and a somewhat noticeable improvement compared to the same month last year (59.9 percent).
However, Deutsche Bahn remained well away from its own punctuality target. Railway boss Richard Lutz recently reaffirmed that this year at least 70 percent of long-distance trains should arrive at their destination without major delays. A train is considered punctual if it arrives at its destination with a delay of no more than six minutes.
Construction sites and storm depression
The group justifies the unreliability of the departure and arrival times with the numerous construction sites in the rail network. In addition to the regular construction sites, the program to replace 480,000 concrete sleepers is continuing, creating over 400 additional construction sites. The railways tackled this after the accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen last year. According to an expert report, material defects in these components were the main cause of the accident in June 2022 with several deaths and numerous injuries.
The storm “Poly”, which swept across northern Germany in early July, also affected punctuality, according to Bahn. As a result of the storm damage, some routes were closed for days.
No improvement in punctuality in sight
It is not foreseeable that reliability on the rails will soon improve for passengers. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing does not expect the first improvements until towards the end of next year, after the general renovation of the Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim – one of the busiest routes in Germany.
However, passenger associations assume that the problems on the rails will last much longer. The main reason for this is the poor condition of the network and insufficient capacity.