Unpunctual trains: Deutsche Bahn pays 200 million euros for delays
Negative record for Deutsche Bahn: In 2024, it had to pay more compensation to passengers than ever before due to delayed trains.
(Image: Markus Mainka/Shutterstock.com)
Train delays hit Deutsche Bahn (DB) hard last year: it had to pay a total of 197 million euros in compensation to passengers who were entitled to it due to delays. This was announced by the state-owned DB Group.
According to DB, around 6.9 million applications for compensation were submitted to the railroad's service centers. In 2023, 5.6 million applications were processed, resulting in a total of 132.8 million euros in compensation payments.
"We pay without ifs and buts"
This was first reported by "Bild am Sonntag". A DB spokesperson told the newspaper: "If the train is delayed and our passengers are entitled to compensation, then we pay it without any ifs and buts. And long delays result in high compensation payments." According to the report, 80 percent of delays in 2024 were due to the dilapidated and overloaded infrastructure.
Videos by heise
Last year, Deutsche Bahn was more unpunctual than it has been for at least 21 years, reports Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa). More than one in three long-distance trains operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB) were unpunctual last year. Trains reached 37.5 percent of stops with a delay of more than 5:59 minutes. Of the ICE and IC trains, 62.5 percent were on time.
(nen)
