Overview
- DB Regio has set a goal to push regional punctuality back above 90 percent but gave no concrete deadline, and reported punctuality of 89.1 percent for April 2026.
- The infrastructure arm DB InfraGo is planning roughly 28,000 construction sites this year with about €23 billion available after last year’s 26,000 sites and €19.9 billion spending largely only halted further decline.
- DB and government advisers point to ageing track components and overloaded rail nodes in large cities as the main causes of delays, with small disruptions cascading through tightly packed schedules.
- A March Taskforce report and DB discussions have proposed practical fixes such as reserve 'joker' tracks to relieve bottlenecks, extra timetable buffers and earlier departures in some services to improve on-time performance.
- DB says operational steps are already showing results: hiring 20,000 staff cut cancelled train-kilometres by about 80 percent, ridership rose roughly 12 million passengers in April year-on-year, and the operator will offer a summer trial BahnCard 25 for €5.99 with new Deutschlandticket purchases while broader changes will need federal and state coordination.