Germany: Deutsche Bahn boss pays high price for train delays

"Being as punctual as the railway" - as an old German expression goes - is what the head of Deutsche Bahn lacked, a columnist for the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung ( SZ ) jokes the day after the surprise dismissal of the head of the German national railway company.

The German government decided on Thursday, August 14, to prematurely terminate the contract of Richard Lutz, who has been at the helm of Deutsche Bahn (DB) since 2017, due in part to the lack of punctuality of its trains. Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder described the situation as "dramatic," pointing to user dissatisfaction and a lack of profitability.

The head of Deutsche Bahn will therefore have to leave his post two years earlier than planned. Is he responsible for his company's failings, which have been denounced for many years across the Rhine? Yes, in part, respond the German media, all citing the same figures to show that delays have worsened considerably since he took office: while 78.5% of trains arrived on time in 2017, this figure would drop to only 62.5% by 2024.

In short, nearly four out of ten Deutsche Bahn trains arrive late. Switzerland has bitterly acknowledged this and decided in February 2025 to ban the German company from its rail network. Trains from Germany are now stopped at their first stop on Swiss soil and replaced by local trains, which, according to the Swiss authorities, are known to arrive on time.

The inefficiency of the German railway company was exposed to the world last year when foreign fans attending the Euro football championship noticed the unreliability of the timetables posted at stations.

" It is important to understand that railways define punctuality differently than their customers," the SZ columnist jokes today, noting that Deutsche Bahn only counts delays from 14 minutes beyond the scheduled arrival time at the final destination for passengers.

On the other hand, Deutsche Bahn knows how to make amends and publicly acknowledges its wrongdoing. In a tab titled "Punctuality" on its website, the company paints a frank picture of the situation. "Despite the considerable efforts made by railway companies and rail infrastructure companies, punctuality in passenger rail transport has continued to decline. The reasons for this development are as follows. Poor condition of the facilities: The railway infrastructure (switches, tracks, etc.) is outdated and prone to breakdowns, mainly due to delayed investment in many areas of the network," states a detailed report from 2023.

This underinvestment in maintaining German railways is a reality denounced by many elected officials, starting with the Greens. Green Party MP Matthias Gastel, who is very involved in the issue and has kept a public log of his train journeys since 2013, responded to Richard Lutz's dismissal by arguing that cutting off a head would not solve the underlying problem.

An argument with which the Deutsche Bahn users' association agrees, which has given this announcement a cold reception. "The situation of the railways will not change by changing the management, but only by improving railway policy in Germany and by adequately financing the railways," declared its honorary leader Karl-Peter Naumann.

Germany's transport minister has announced that he will reveal the name of Richard Lutz's successor before the end of the summer and that he will present a reform plan for Deutsche Bahn on September 22, as the company, which is wholly owned by the federal government, is heavily indebted.