The Federal Minister for Transport, Patrick Schnieder, has announced a comprehensive review of the entire organizational structure of Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway company. This initiative, revealed during an interview on ZDF’s morning program, aims to increase federal oversight and control over the railway’s operations, particularly within the infrastructure division which is primarily federally funded.
Schnieder indicated a desire to streamline the complex corporate landscape of Deutsche Bahn and its subsidiaries, noting a “wealth of companies” and a significant number of board members. The review will encompass a thorough examination of personnel structures across the organization as part of this restructuring effort.
The move comes amidst ongoing concerns about the reliability of Deutsche Bahn’s services. The minister expressed dissatisfaction with current punctuality rates, attributing the issues to a combination of operational and infrastructural factors. A program of essential repairs will be accelerated to address these concerns. Currently, approximately 40 key high-performance rail corridors are slated for upgrades, with work already underway on the Frankfurt-Mannheim line. A section of track between Hamburg and Berlin is currently closed for renovation. This wider program intends to consider the entirety of the rail network, including signaling systems.
The modernization strategy is in line with commitments outlined in the current coalition agreement, which mandates a holistic reappraisal and restructuring of the entire rail system. Over €100 billion has been earmarked for investment in Deutsche Bahn and its infrastructure during this legislative period. Minister Schnieder anticipates that these investments will lead to significant improvements in service reliability. Alongside the physical upgrades, the ministry also plans to leverage increased digitization and personnel changes to improve the network’s performance.
