Failure rate is also low
Long-distance trains are rarely more than an hour late
February 25, 2024, 5:17 p.m
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Unplanned stops on the open road, canceled connections – anyone who travels regularly with Deutsche Bahn sometimes needs to have strong nerves. But data from the previous year shows that really big delays are comparatively rare in long-distance transport.
Delays are always a nuisance for train travelers – but particularly long delays of over an hour were rare on long-distance trains last year. Significant delays of 60 minutes or more occurred at 2.4 percent of stops, as the Federal Ministry of Transport responded to a request from the Union parliamentary group, according to data from Deutsche Bahn. Delays of 15 minutes or more occurred in 18.3 percent of stops and 30 minutes or more in 8.6 percent of stops.
In 2023, there were an average of 823 trips per day with 7,372 arrival stops in the federally owned group’s entire long-distance transport with ICE and Intercity. The arrival times at all train stations are taken into account in the statistics on operational punctuality. Every stop that is less than 5:59 minutes late is included in the statistics as being on time. Last year, 64 percent of long-distance train stops were reached on time, as the railway had already announced.
Punctuality target increased
For this year, the company has set a punctuality target of 71.5 percent for long-distance transport, the ministry said. Last year, 2.7 percent of the planned trips were canceled completely and without replacement on the entire route – taking into account all internal and external influencing factors such as strikes.
There are also partial failures at the beginning or further along the route. In principle, once trains with passengers have started, they do not turn back, as the answer says. If things don’t go any further on a route because of a closure, for example, there are diversions. If that doesn’t work either, end the journey at a station on the way. Then alternative travel options would be sought – without additional costs for passengers.
Passengers are entitled to compensation
In general, travelers can claim compensation in the event of long delays. The train reimburses a quarter of the fare for delays of one hour or more, and half the fare for delays of two hours or more. Last year, payments totaled 132.8 million euros, as the group had already announced.
Delays can have various causes. Last year, 41 percent of train cancellations were due to external causes such as extreme weather, accidents or strikes, according to the government response. Problems with the track network such as disruptions to overhead lines and construction work were responsible for 14 percent of the failures.
In order to increase the reliability of operations, a general renovation of the network with bundled construction projects is starting this year. The concept envisages that routes will be completely closed for several months and fundamentally repaired. The Riedbahn between Frankfurt/Main and Mannheim is scheduled to begin in mid-July. By 2030, 40 sections of the highly stressed network should be made fit. According to the government’s response, the railways will invest twelve billion euros in new long-distance trains and more seats by 2030, as well as more than two billion euros in maintenance workshops for their trains.