The Deutsche Bahn rolls inexorably towards chaos. Delays and cancellations are increasing. In the coming years, the chaos will continue to escalate. Now the board responsible for infrastructure at DB admits: There have been massive omissions.
Broken, old, overcrowded: Deutsche Bahn at the limit
“It can’t go on like this.” Berthold Huber, Board Member for Infrastructure at Deutsche Bahn, draws this clear negative balance about the current state of the rail network and train traffic. The manager sums up the reason just as succinctly: “Too full, too old, too broken”, that is how he described the railway to the responsible federal minister, Volker Wissing.
There are words and conditions that are likely to surprise very few rail customers in Germany. The number of delays continues to rise, climbing to new highs with regularity. Even total failures are no longer a rarity. Huber said in an interview that he himself underestimated the critical state of the DB infrastructure up until 2020 (source: Süddeutsche Zeitung via heise online).
The corona virus then gave the overloaded structures a breathing space. To the complete overwhelm but then it became the return of the passengers. “The punctualities decreased rapidly, more and more connections were missed.”
Even today, the situation is no longer just tense, but much more so. According to Huber drive the DB “more than the network can handle.” In the coming year, the first important step is due: the general renovation between Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim, which is considered the busiest route. Not a day without a disturbance in the process there have been there in the current year.
ICE L – the new DB long-distance train may one day roll over fresh rails:
DB at the end? Experts call for the end of Deutsche Bahn as we know it
In the coming years up to 2030, DB wants to tackle the mammoth task of renovating the rail network. Various routes are sometimes closed for months, important ones Connections often deleted without replacement. In the years to come, traveling on Deutsche Bahn will be a test of patience, as there is a total of around 4,200 km of rail network to be repaired.
There are some doubts that the railway is up to the task. Cartel experts and politicians had recently called for the to smash Deutsche Bahn. The critics argue that there would not be a refurbishment backlog as is currently the case if a separate company were responsible for expanding and maintaining the infrastructure.
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