GERMAN Rail (DB) has reported an adjusted Ebit operating loss of €239m in its results for the first half of 2025. This is considerably less than the €1.2bn loss recorded in the same period in 2024.

DB blames the poor condition of infrastructure across the national network and consequent poor train punctuality for adjusted revenue falling short of expectations at €13.3bn, albeit up 3% on the first half of 2024. “In the heavily used core network, almost every second facility relevant to operations and punctuality is in need of replacement and is therefore far too susceptible to failure,” says DB CEO, Dr Richard Lutz.

DB’s own figures back this up, with punctuality for long-distance passenger services remaining at disappointingly low levels. Just 63.4% arrived on time in the first half of 2025, similar to the 62.7% recorded in the first half of 2024.

DB’s overall loss comes despite the disposal of its former logistics division, DB Schenker, which was sold for €14.3bn to Danish logistics group DSV in April. DB points out that the principal objective of the sale was to reduce its debt burden and this had indeed fallen to €22bn at the end of June, a reduction of €10.5bn since the end of 2024. But critics point out that new borrowing is further adding to the debt burden.

Lutz says that DB’s S3 corporate restructuring programme announced last year had a noticeable effect on the company’s finances in the first half of 2025. “DB Group is now on a much more stable financial footing than it was at the beginning of the year,” he says. “Our strict cost discipline is paying off. We are making progress step by step."

DB’s acknowledgement that passenger demand remains high could prove to be a double-edged sword. Around 943 million passengers travelled on DB trains in the first half of 2025, up 24 million on the same period in 2024, while passenger-km rose 4% during this time to 41.9bn. Almost half of this, 21.9bn, was on long-distance services.

However, with disruption due to ageing infrastructure only likely to increase in the short term, rising passenger traffic could lead to growing dissatisfaction. In June, following sustained criticism of its “comprehensive refurbishment” programme involving total line closures, DB agreed to revise it and reduce the number of closures each year. As a result, however, the programme will now extend for a further five years, during which time failing infrastructure could cause significant delays.

Infrastructure management subsidiary DB InfraGO was responsible for DB’s highest loss in the first half of last year. It reported an improved position for the same period in 2025, albeit still in negative territory, moving from an adjusted Ebit loss of €700m last year to €204m this year.

Freight traffic in decline

Also recording a loss, as it has done for many years, DB Cargo carried 82.9 million tonnes in the first half of 2025, down by 10 million tonnes on the year before. Tonne-km fell by 16% over the same period year-on-year to 30 million.

DB attributes this to “the weak economy,” but also notes that it has terminated unprofitable contracts as part of the restructuring process announced last year, implemented to avoid being broken up following receipt of state aid in breach of European law. With the deadline to become profitable by the end of 2026 fast approaching, DB Cargo’s adjusted Ebit loss of €96m for the first half of 2025, while disappointing, shows that the goal appears to be within reach, and much nearer than the €261m adjusted Ebit loss recorded in the same period last year.

Industry reaction

While at this point last year DB optimistically forecast an adjusted Ebit profit of around €1bn for the full year, the company is now simply aiming for a “slightly more than breakeven operating result.” The company’s overall lacklustre performance has been seized on by critics, who are pressuring Germany’s new centre right-led coalition government to fundamentally review how the national railway is structured, including calls for an independent infrastructure manager to replace DB InfraGO.

“The DB Group is withering in the hands of its owner, the federal government,” says Peter Westenberger, managing director of the German Rail Freight Association (Die Güterbahnen). “In spite of the sale of DB Schenker, the group has already increased its net financial debt by almost €2bn in the first half of the year.”