Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn. picture alliance/dpa | Fabian Sommer
Last year, Deutsche Bahn spent 500 million euros on external consulting services in the IT sector, a spokeswoman for the railway confirms. However, the total costs of half a billion euros also include license costs amounting to 160 million euros. Internal documents show that some board members at the railway are dissatisfied with the IT. A railway spokeswoman says that the expenses would be in the usual dimensions compared to other companies.
Last year, Deutsche Bahn spent around 500 million euros on external consulting services in the IT report, research by Business Insider shows. A railway spokeswoman confirmed the amount. However, the total cost of half a billion euros also includes license costs amounting to 160 million euros.
Our research shows that one of the companies advising the railway is Capgemini. A railway spokeswoman also confirms this. The railway did not want to comment on other external service providers and consultants.
A spokeswoman says: “The companies in the DB Group generally treat the contractual data relating to their contractors restrictively. This also includes the names of the contractual partners. These represent protected trade and business secrets that generally cannot be disclosed. To the extent that there are publication obligations under public procurement law, the companies in the DB Group comply with these.”
Bahn made a loss of 2.4 billion euros last year
We recently reported that the railway had a total of 1.5 billion euros in IT costs last year. A spokeswoman says that it was actually 1.6 billion euros, but that in relation to DAX companies this number is within the usual dimensions for the industry.
We also reported that there are around 3,700 IT applications at the railway. A spokeswoman says that this number of systems is within the usual dimensions compared to companies with comparable complexity.
When asked whether the railway still wanted to reduce the number of systems, a spokeswoman said: “Yes, that’s why we are continually developing our IT landscape. The focus here is particularly on a holistic approach to greater efficiency through standardization, for example through the targeted use of cloud services and platforms. But it is also a fact: Due to the complexity of our group, we sometimes have more complex IT needs than other companies.”
Internal railway documents show that some railway board members also consider the state-owned company’s IT to be “outdated” and are generally dissatisfied. You can find the report here.
On Thursday, Deutsche Bahn announced that it would have made a total loss of 2.4 billion euros in 2023. The main reasons were the dilapidated network and problems with freight transport, the board members said on Thursday.