Record long-distance ridership lifts DB sales

PASSENGER numbers on German Rail (DB) Long Distance services increased for the fourth successive year to reach a record 148 million in 2018, according to the company’s annual results, which were published on March 28.

The delivery of new ICE 4 high-speed trains is providing a much-needed increase in DB Long Distance fleet capacity.

Photo Credit: DB AG/Georg Wagner

With a lift from its new Berlin - Munich high-speed services, DB Long Distance traffic rose 4% year-on-year, helping to drive a 3.1% increase in the group’s adjusted sales, which reached €44.02bn. Adjusted Ebit declined 1.9% to €2.1bn.

“In 2019, we will welcome more than 150 million passengers on long-distance trains,” says DB CEO Dr Richard Lutz. “We are well on the way to achieving our goal of carrying more than 200 million long-distance passengers in 2030.”

Across its European rail operations, DB carried around 2.6 billion passengers in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 17 million. Traffic volumes increased by 1.9% to 97.7 billion passenger-km. While DB Regio traffic remained static, DB Long Distance traffic increased by 5.6% to 42.8 billion passenger-km.

The number of trains operating on the German main line rail network also reached record levels in 2018. According to infrastructure manager DB Network, usage reached 1.09 billion train path-km, an increase of 1.2% compared with 2017. DB’s competitors accounted for 32.2% of this figure, an increase of 1.3%.

Despite these successes, Lutz also highlighted DB’s continuing operational performance difficulties, in particular the “unsatisfactory punctuality” of 74.9% on DB Long Distance services. DB aims to increase this figure to 76.5% in 2019 as part of a five-point action plan to improve the company’s financial and operational performance, which was unveiled in January.

Capital expenditure increased by 7% to more than €11bn. Infrastructure accounted for 62% of capital spending, with rolling stock investment representing the second-largest expense.

Net debt on December 31 2018 was just over €19.5bn, an increase of €926m compared with the position a year earlier.

Logistics subsidiary DB Schenker achieved a 3.8% increase in revenues, which reached a record €17bn. International passenger subsidiary Arriva generated revenues of €5.4bn, a 1.8% increase. DB announced on March 27 that it is now looking at options for the sale of Arriva.

Rail freight unit DB Cargo had a difficult year, with traffic declining by 4.8%. DB says it is “working hard to improve the unsatisfactory situation,” and DB Cargo is investing in personnel and new equipment to enable a return to sustainable growth.

Overall, DB appointed 24,000 new employees in Germany in 2018, including 5500 to newly-created roles.