Since early October, the long‑time chief executive of Deutsche Bahn, Evelyn Palla, has taken her announced turnaround plan seriously. In the group’s leadership she aims to cut costs by 500 million € each year. According to a “Focus” report, Palla announced this target at the company’s New Year’s reception in Berlin on Monday night. A few days earlier, the chair of the supervisory board, Werner Gatzer, declared that roughly every third senior position in the headquarters will be eliminated.
At the same time, Deutsche Bahn is launching a new “Immediate Safety and Cleanliness Programme” for stations this year, with a budget of 50 million €. Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) unveiled the initiative yesterday in Remagen. The expected gain in punctuality of the trains may not help right away, because by 2026 the number of construction sites across the network will rise again from 24 000 to 26 000.
