GERMAN Rail (DB) CEO Evelyn Palla has unveiled a far-reaching restructuring plan aimed at reshaping Germany’s national railway into a leaner, more efficient and more customer-oriented company.

Palla, who took up the role of CEO on October 1, has secured unanimous approval from DB’s supervisory board for the plan, which marks the first major step in what she calls a “consistent restart” for the state-owned company.

The overhaul, set to begin on January 1, introduces a new corporate structure with fewer management layers, streamlined workflows and clearer responsibilities across the organisation. Further phases will follow throughout 2026.

“A better railway needs a consistent restart and a radical rethink at all levels,” Palla said when presenting her plan. “We are giving DB a new design principle for greater proximity to the business.”

At the top of the organisation, DB will reduce its group executive board from eight to six members as the divisions for technology and digitalisation, and infrastructure, will be abolished. Daniela Gerd tom Markotten has served as board member for digitalisation and technology since September 2021, while the infrastructure brief has been held by Berthold Huber since July 2022.

The move supports the federal government’s goal of reinforcing the separation between infrastructure manager DB InfraGO and DB’s operating businesses. Germany’s federal transport minister, Patrick Schnieder, has made slimming down DB a central part of his agenda to increase customer satisfaction, which he unveiled in Berlin in September 2025.

Management cuts

The changes below board level are even more extensive. DB plans to eliminate an entire management tier between the executive board and the first management level. In addition, the number of organisational units at this first level will be cut from 43 to 22, effectively halving the number of senior managers. Additional functions and departments will be removed as DB consolidates service units such as sales and maintenance more closely around operational needs.

Reducing the management headcount is set to continue throughout 2026, and DB says affected employees will be offered opportunities through its internal job market. At DB Long Distance and DB Regio, independent marketing departments will be dissolved, with their responsibilities distributed across other units to simplify decision-making.

DB InfraGO will also undergo restructuring. Its management board will be reduced from eight to six members. Operations and construction - formerly split across multiple functions - will be reunited under a single board position. New regional representatives will oversee coordination of line closures and operations to better balance the needs of all operators using the network.

To anchor the push for higher quality, Palla is introducing a new quality control function reporting directly to the CEO. Rather than relying on broad, centralised performance improvement programmes, DB will embed quality and efficiency targets directly into the responsibilities of line managers across all business units. The goal, Palla says, is local empowerment.

“Decentralised means that the local makers decide,” she says. “We are shifting decisions and responsibility more to the surface, to the company, to the people.”

Action programmes

Alongside the structural overhaul, DB will launch three immediate action programmes in early 2026, aimed at delivering visible improvements for passengers. These initiatives will target cleaning and safety at stations, more reliable customer information, and improved comfort on long-distance trains.

DB will spend more than €140m on the programmes next year. Measures will include the deployment of mobile cleaning teams, intensified onboard cleaning, and efforts to ensure consistent catering and functioning toilets on trains.

Despite the plan, Palla acknowledged that Germany’s “dilapidated infrastructure” cannot be fixed overnight. “There won’t be a big leap in punctuality,” she says.

“But we can change the framework conditions under which we solve the problems. Our customers will benefit directly from this.”