For each of the 400,000 travelers on the ICE or IC / EC every day, it is then measured whether the arrival at the terminus is more or less than a quarter of an hour late. This is reported by the "Bild am Sonntag" (BamS).
This includes not only failing trains, but also whether the connection was caught or whether a later replacement train was running. This means that Deutsche Bahn takes over the punctuality limits from air or long-distance bus services.
Sharp criticism of new measurement
The new method of punctuality measurement on the train, according to which train journeys with a delay of less than a quarter of an hour are to be shown as punctual, has met with sharp criticism from transport politicians.
"Despite stricter regulations in Switzerland and Japan, the railways there are more punctual," said Oliver Luksic, transport policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group in the editorial network Germany.
"Embarrassing trickery"
"In Germany, the clocks for the train should now tick very differently, that is a political declaration of capitulation by the train and the minister of transport. Minister Scheuer's promise to meet the punctuality of the train by 'changing the time' is a brazen and embarrassing statistical trick. "
The chair of the Minister of Transport Conference Anke Rehlinger (SPD) told the RND. "Statistics doesn't make a train more punctual." The train undeniably has a punctuality problem. "They have to do it with better planning and logistics, more trains and staff and better passenger information," said the Saarland Minister of Transport.
"If you want the socio-ecological turnaround, you have to take the train, but you need cheap long-distance truck tariffs to make domestic flights less attractive and better connections to the regions in Germany."
Rail: More than 80 percent reach their destination no later than 15 minutes according to the timetable
So far, the train has only measured whether the individual trains arrive at the platforms with a maximum delay of 5:59 minutes. Then they are considered punctual, everything about them is delayed. Deutsche Bahn also wants to continue to use these statistics. According to the "BamS", the railways want to use the new calendar to show that more than 80 percent of travelers reach their destination no later than 15 minutes after the timetable.