Construction site Deutsche Bahn – Group decisive years ago

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“The rail infrastructure is in a critical condition and cannot meet the demand for quality and capacity,” said CEO Richard Lutz on Thursday when he presented the company figures for 2022. Punctuality is poor, the infrastructure is dilapidated and overloaded in many places.

General renovation planned from 2024

In addition, there was a wage dispute with the railway union EVG, including a major warning strike last Monday – times on the railway are turbulent. But billions in pledges from the federal government inspire confidence. A few days ago, the coalition committee set Deutsche Bahn’s financial needs at 45 billion euros in 2027.

Railway boss Lutz was happy with the compromise. Financing is simplified and construction projects are accelerated. Yet it is controversial whether the resources are sufficient to clear the years of investment backlog.

General renovations on particularly important routes should soon provide noticeable improvements in operational processes. In the summer of 2024, it will start on the Riedbahn between Frankfurt and Mannheim, a main artery in the rail network.

General renovation means: The route will be completely closed for several months, but will then be completely renewed during this time – including the parts that may still have a few years to go. By 2030, a powerful network that will meet the demand should be created between the major German cities.

Long detours during expansion

Punctuality and reliability should increase significantly with the first renovated routes. However, during the period of complete closures, travelers will face significant restrictions in the form of rail replacement services and lengthy diversions.

Despite all the problems, the demand for long-distance transport is growing. Deutsche Bahn expects around 155 million passengers on ICE and IC trains this year. That would be a passenger record in long-haul traffic. Last year, some 132 million travelers were transported there. In the previous record year 2019, there were 151 million.

According to the coalition agreement, the federal government wants to double the number of travelers in long-distance rail transport by 2030 compared to 2015. In terms of punctuality in long-distance transport, Lutz aims for a percentage of “well above 70 percent” before 2023.

Debts can continue to grow

The economic situation at Deutsche Bahn remains tense. In operational matters, the state-owned company was in the black again in 2022. The bottom line was a loss of about 227 million euros.

The fact that the minus was not greater was due to the logistics subsidiary DB Schenker, which achieved record results. The subsidiary made a profit of approximately EUR 1.8 billion before interest and taxes (EBIT).

The group is currently investigating a sale of Schenker. With an expected return in the billions, the main goal is to reduce the debt ratio. The net financial debt including lease obligations amounted to 28.8 billion euros.

According to CFO Levin Holle, the mountain of debt could rise to around 33 billion euros in 2023. For 2023, he expects a group-wide minus of around one billion euros in the working area.

(SDA)

Source: Blick