Overview
- Deutsche Bahn's internal figures show 61.3 percent of ICE and Intercity trains arrived on time in May, keeping the metric narrowly above the company target of more than 60 percent.
- The May result is lower than March and April, which were reported at about 62.1 percent and 64.4 percent respectively, but it reverses a run of months in 2025 and early 2026 when the 60 percent threshold was missed.
- Under Deutsche Bahn's rules a train counts as delayed only if it is six minutes or more late and cancellations are not included in the punctuality statistic, so the headline rate can mask other forms of service disruption.
- The company and Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder described the numbers as cautious progress and blamed structural problems such as ageing infrastructure, heavy construction work and severe winter weather for earlier falls in punctuality.
- The punctuality struggles tie into wider risks for service quality and competition, with foreign operators planning market entry and executives warning that capacity limits at busy nodes could shape how any new competitors affect regional connections.