Saturday 5th June 2021
Rail bookings are on the rise
The trains have been significantly fuller since Pentecost
In the first Corona year, Deutsche Bahn made a loss of 5.7 billion euros, and passenger numbers were also in the lower range in the first few months of 2021. But in the last few weeks the group has seen a clear turnaround.
After a sharp decline in the corona pandemic, the number of passengers at Deutsche Bahn has risen again since the weekend of Pentecost. “We had a lot of popularity recently, despite the contact restrictions,” said Bahn boss Richard Lutz to the newspapers of the Funke media group. Whitsun traffic was already “brisk” and since then the booking numbers have increased significantly. “You can feel that people want to get out when they can.”
Despite the corona pandemic, the state-owned company largely maintained its offer, but the trains remained almost empty at times. The railway is suffering from the fact that the pandemic is taking longer and the recovery will come later than expected, said Lutz. “In the short term, our losses are higher than forecast.”
According to the report, Deutsche Bahn had already made a loss of 5.7 billion euros last year. The federal government supports the company with direct and indirect corona aid amounting to around five billion euros.
For the summer, Lutz expects a further increase in travelers: “The anticipation can be felt everywhere at DB,” he told the newspapers. He also expressed confidence that business travelers will return to the trains. “Soon there will be trade fairs and congresses again. And then many business travelers will consider whether to travel by plane or train,” said Lutz, referring to a clear trend towards climate-friendly
.