Overview
- Deutsche Bahn has set up an independent experts group called the “Robuster Fahrplan” and scheduled its first meeting for 3 November 2026 to examine service-reduction scenarios.
- The company says parts of the network are overused and backs the review with data showing that in 2025 more than 10% of trains ran on routes at over 115% capacity, congestion delays rose 150% over ten years, and long-distance punctuality was about 52.4% in September.
- Enak Ferlemann, a member of DB InfraGO’s supervisory board and part of the commission, has argued publicly that there are “too many trains” on the tracks and offered an example of cutting Berlin–Hamburg long-distance frequency from every 30 minutes to once an hour to improve reliability.
- The timetable specialist SMA and Partner AG has been hired to build a network-capacity model that will quantify how many services the current infrastructure can reliably carry and to produce concrete operational scenarios.
- Any service reductions would affect passengers, political expectations, and DB’s market offer, so the coming analysis and the commission’s recommendations will be watched closely before the company or regulators decide on changes.