Deutschlandticket: DB Regio increases passenger numbers by 6 percent

Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Regio transported around 855 million passengers in the first half of 2024. This means that 6 percent more passengers traveled on Deutsche Bahn's regional trains than in the first half of 2023. Deutsche Bahn attributes the increase to the Deutschlandticket, which was introduced on 1 May 2023.

Transport performance on Deutsche Bahn's regional rail services rose by more than 17 percent to 19.5 billion passenger-kilometers, meaning that passengers traveled longer distances. DB Regio's turnover increased by 283 million euros to around 5.0 billion euros. The operating profit amounted to minus 66 million euros compared to minus 37 million euros in the first half of the previous year.

"At the limits of performance"

The Deutsche Bahn Group as a whole recorded an operating loss of 677 million euros, 950 million euros worse than in the first half of 2023. The loss after interest and income taxes amounted to 1.2 billion euros compared to 71 million euros a year ago. "To ensure that urgently needed repairs to the infrastructure could begin quickly, DB also made considerable additional investments in advance, as in the first half of 2023," according to a statement from Deutsche Bahn.

"Extreme weather events on an unprecedented scale have pushed the rail infrastructure, which was already in need of repair, to the limits of its capacity and exacerbated the operational and financial situation in passenger and freight transport," explained Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz. Against this backdrop, punctuality on long-distance services fell from 68.7 to 62.7 percent. A fact that Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) criticized in advance on ZDF television. In the first six months of 2024, operating performance on the rail network fell by 1.8 percent year-on-year to 548 million train-path kilometers.

The general refurbishment of the rail network began ten days ago with the closure of the Riedbahn between Mannheim and Frankfurt am Main. When it is completed in around five months, infrastructure disruptions are expected to decrease by up to 80 percent, according to the railroad company.

Highest turnover month in long-distance transport

In the first six months of this year, 64.2 million passengers used DB's long-distance trains, 6 percent fewer than a year ago. Due to the strikes and weather-related restrictions on the rail network, long-distance traffic fell by 3.6 percent to around 20.9 billion passenger kilometers in the same period. After the first few months of the year, which were dominated by strikes, travelers returned to the trains and made June 2024 the strongest month in the history of DB long-distance transport in terms of revenue. DB Fernverkehr closed the first half of the year with a turnover of 2.8 billion, 68 million less than in the previous year. The operating loss amounted to 232 million euros, compared to 62 million euros a year ago.

The rail freight subsidiary DB Cargo transported around 93 million tons of freight - around 10.2 percent less than in the first six months of 2023. Transport performance fell by 7.6 percent and revenue by 106 million euros to 2.8 billion euros, partly due to lower production in energy-intensive industries and lower demand for transport as a result of the economic situation. The logistics subsidiary DB Schenker generated an operating profit of 520 million euros, twice as high as before the coronavirus pandemic.

(anw)