Deutsche Bahn has decided to permanently offer its Family Ticket, which was initially introduced only for the summer holidays. DB CEO Evelyn Palla announced this to “Bild am Sonntag”. The round trip for families costs €99.99, and the price includes ICE seat reservations.
During the summer break, the offer proved very successful, according to Palla. “We welcomed 100,000 more families on our trains than last year,” she stated. The ticket will be available permanently starting November 1st, with sales beginning on October 26th under the same conditions and including reservations.
However, Palla also tempered expectations regarding the rail system’s punctuality. She pointed out that the rail network has been neglected over many years. “A large part of our equipment is too old, too prone to issues, and fails too often,” she explained. She stressed that the system can only be renewed piece by piece and that the backlog of maintenance, which was overlooked for many years, cannot be fixed in just one or two years.
Palla noted that extreme heat will only exacerbate existing problems. For instance, switch drives often fail during hot summers when temperatures exceed 35 degrees Celsius. “This should have been replaced long ago. It didn’t happen, and now we are experiencing the consequences,” the CEO added.
Consequently, she confirmed that there will be no swift improvement in punctuality. She warned that repairing the German rail network will require a minimum of ten years. Only after a significant portion of this equipment has been renewed will noticeable improvements occur, and this process cannot happen overnight.
