Bernhard Osburg, chief executive of DB Cargo, said he is confident that the heavily indebted freight rail division will return to profitability by 2026. He explained that the company’s management plan is already steering toward the goal of a breakeven (black zero) and that a dedicated cost‑and‑productivity programme will be put in place.
The programme’s objectives are twofold. First, a savings target of one billion euros is set for 2030, which will partly be achieved by cutting roughly 6,000 positions – around 4,000 within the action plan and about 2,000 in single‑vagon traffic. Second, Osburg stresses the need for higher productivity, not a theoretical benchmark but the level DB Cargo reached five to seven years ago. This productivity target will apply to all business areas.
Osburg also outlined a European‑wide repositioning strategy. The core of DB Cargo, the German segment that drives Europe’s industrial engine, is heavily burdened. Yet goods that are no longer produced in Germany but are moving to other European locations remain in high demand and must be transported, presenting a significant growth opportunity.
Regarding the expensive single‑vagon line, the plan is to preserve it over as wide an area as possible because it remains system‑critical for German operations. A reorganisation is on the agenda: four main production hubs will become operating centres-Cologne‑Gremberg, Seelze, Mannheim and Nuremberg.
In addition, five downstream freight stations that serve seaports or large industrial clusters will be part of the new structure. The number of train‑assembly sites will be reduced from more than 30 today to around 20. Further facilities will be added where freight trains can be handed off. Workshop numbers will also be cut to 12, and Osburg says the company intends not to close these sites where possible but to sell them; there are indeed interested buyers.
