DESPITE reporting increased revenue and adjusted operating profit (Ebit), German Rail (DB) has reported a net loss of €2.3bn for the 2025 financial year, the railway announced on March 27.
Revenue increased by 3% to reach €27bn in 2025 while Ebit improved by €630m to €297m. Taking into account the €14.3bn sale of its Schenker logistics division to DSV in April 2025, DB recorded an overall net profit of €5.3bn.
However, DB says a write-down of €1.4bn at its long-distance passenger business impacted the overall result. This was caused by lower future revenue forecast for the operator, while the extension of DB’s comprehensive infrastructure renewal programme until 2036 is slowing improvement in network performance, impacting the punctuality of long-distance passenger services.
Overall passenger ridership increased by 3.4% compared with 2024 to 1.93 billion in 2025, with long-distance and regional services carrying more passengers than at any time since the Covid-19 pandemic. DB recorded a total of 87 billion passenger-km across the year.
Long-distance punctuality was 60.5% in 2025 compared with 62.5% in 2024 due to the high number of work sites on the network, with DB investing €19bn in infrastructure in 2025 and total gross investment reaching €22bn. DB says punctuality will remain under pressure in 2026 with 28,000 renewal projects scheduled to take place under a €23bn investment programme.
Despite the difficulties at its long-distance business, DB confirmed that all business units achieved a net positive operating result in 2025, apart from DB Cargo which reported a marginal loss. This is an improvement of €350m compared with 2024 as DB seeks to meet the European Commission’s (EC) requirement to achieve financial sustainability by the end of this year. Several unprofitable services have already been discontinued and DB says that a further series of cuts will be made in 2026 to achieve this objective.
CEO’s response
Commenting on results, DB CEO, Evelyn Palla, says that while progress was made with revenue and Ebit, much still needs to be done. “We can only be satisfied once we are generating profits overall once again,” she says.
“We want to generate sustainable profits, regain the ability to invest from our own resources, and deliver tangible improvements for our customers,” Palla says. “We aim to become the best railway in Europe.”
Looking ahead to 2026, DB says it expects group revenue to rise to approximately €28bn, and operating profit to around €600m, in the next 12 months.
“Our goal is to move significantly closer to a positive annual result,” Palla says. “However, the key lies in infrastructure. A reliable network is the backbone of the railway. Our guiding principle is therefore clear: build, build, build.
“Sustained investment at this level will be essential to reverse decades of underfunding and halt the downward trend in infrastructure quality and punctuality.”
