GERMAN Rail’s (DB) CEO Evelyn Palla has presented her strategy for the next 10 years to DB’s supervisory board. “DB is undergoing its biggest transformation in years,” Palla says. “The course is clear. We are radically focusing on what we are here for: railways and the customer travel experience. We are abandoning unattainable promises. We are focusing on realistic goals and facts.”

DB says priority will be given to reliability, proven operational quality, and economic viability. “The goal is to build a high-performance railway system in the coming years,” DB says.

DB is abandoning its previous "Strong Rail" strategy, a key policy of former CEO Dr Richard Lutz, who resigned in August last year. DB says growth goals, such as doubling passenger numbers, have proven unsustainable.

“The prerequisites for success are the currently ongoing, consistent restructuring of the company, decentralised entrepreneurship, and a fundamental cultural shift,” says DB.

"For success, we need a performance culture in which achievement and responsibility are rewarded," Palla says.

The new strategy will be implemented in three phases:

  • this year, the foundations will be laid for the complete realignment of DB
  • by 2030, infrastructure manager DB InfraGO will significantly stabilise operations while all businesses and divisions will independently position themselves to be competitive and economically viable, and
  • by 2035, the 200th anniversary of German railways, DB says the modernisation marathon will be largely complete. With the support of politicians and industry, DB will achieve 80% punctuality for long-distance passenger services - nearly half of all DB long-distance trains were more than 5 minutes late in October.

DB says its new strategy is already having an effect. Palla’s new management team is now in place with the recent appointment of a new CFO. The objective is to create an efficient holding company, while the business units are being strengthened to give them greater responsibility for results. DB expects the restructuring to result in permanent savings of more than €500m annually in material and personnel costs.

DB says it is on track to break even. “For the first time in years, DB's after-tax result will be positive from 2026 onwards,” DB says. It expects the group's operating profit to improve by over €1bn to €1.7bn by 2030.

Thanks to a drive for greater cleanliness and safety, DB says customer satisfaction rose significantly in the first months of 2026. “Cleanliness, safety, and better information will become the norm in the future,” DB says.

“A railway that inspires pride is not a utopia, but an aspiration and an incentive for every day,” Palla says. “DB is doing its homework. For this, we will continue to need adequate funding and suitable framework conditions. Together with the federal government and the industry, we will achieve a high-performing railway.”