Traffic Minister Steffen Bilger (CDU) has proposed linking bonus payments for railway managers to punctuality, a move that has received support both within the CDU/CSU coalition and among various state governments.
Isabell Cademartori, the SPD’s parliamentary group leader for the transport committee in the Bundestag, explicitly welcomed the idea. She stated that the public expects the train services to become more reliable, adding that while the government is providing record investments in the infrastructure, results must be visible in terms of punctual service.
Similarly, Steffen Schütz, the Minister for Digital and Infrastructure of Thuringia (BSW), offered his backing. Speaking to the “Tagesspiegel”, Schütz noted that when he operated as an entrepreneur, special bonuses were only paid if targets were met 100 percent. He argued that different metrics were applied at Deutsche Bahn (DB). He stated that it was unacceptable for customers and DB employees if the executive board set targets too low, only to then reward failure to meet them. However, he acknowledged that the federal government had initially made the current compensation system possible.
Bilger previously told the “Bild am Sonntag” that the federal government would soon reach an agreement with DB regarding the scale of investment for infrastructure, including setting clear targets. According to Bilger, if these objectives are not met, there must be consequences, extending to executive bonuses. He stressed that customers and taxpayers have a right to see genuine success measured, and if performance is unsatisfactory, it should impact compensation.
