GERMAN Rail (DB) performance reached a new nadir in October, when provisional monthly punctuality figures for long-distance passenger services reached an all-time low of 51.5%. It follows the previous low of 52.9% recorded in June 2024. This means that nearly half of all DB long-distance trains were more than 5 minutes late in October.
The performance of DB’s regional passenger services also dropped to 84.2% in October, marking a steady decrease over the spring and summer after maintaining an average of around 90% during the first quarter of this year.
These poor results will be unwelcome news for new DB CEO, Evelyn Palla, who took over the role from Dr Richard Lutz at the start of last month. DB’s poor performance in recent years was a key factor in his departure from the state-owned operator.
Overall punctuality for DB long-distance services in 2024 was 62.5%, rising to 63.4% in the first half of this year. The lowest punctuality figure recorded previously was 52% in November 2023. The punctuality of DB’s regional services has recently remained constant, reaching 90.7% in 2024 and 90.6% in the first half of 2025.
The monthly statistics cover 20,000 long-distance and approximately 780,000 regional services.
