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Hamburg train station
Photo: Chris Emil Janssen / IMAGO
Due to, among other things, four warning strikes, the railway had to pay record amounts of compensation to passengers last year. The federally owned company processed 5.6 million compensation applications last year and paid customers a total of 132.8 million euros, as a railway spokesman told the dpa news agency. The jump is huge: 92.7 million euros were paid out in 2022 (plus 43 percent). That was also a record.
In addition to the warning strikes, the railway cited a significant increase in the number of travelers compared to the previous year, a record number of short-term construction sites and the onset of winter in December. The train reimburses a quarter of the fare for delays of one hour or more, and half of the fare for delays of two hours or more. In 2023, Deutsche Bahn was more unpunctual than it had been for a long time: only 64 percent of long-distance train stops were reached on time - i.e. with a delay of less than 6 minutes.
Money would actually be used for investments
In the event of train cancellations due to strikes or warning strikes, passengers can get the entire ticket price back. In 2023, Deutsche Bahn was on strike four times, twice each by the railway and transport union EVG and the train drivers' union GDL.
A DB spokesman emphasized that rail travelers benefit from the most generous regulations of all means of transport. "But it is also true: there is a three-digit million amount missing that is needed for the urgently needed investments in the modernization of the railways in Germany," said the spokesman. “This is the only way we can sustainably improve the punctuality of our trains.”
According to DB, around 65 percent of compensation applications were submitted via the bahn.de website or the DB Navigator app. In 2022 the proportion was still around 60 percent. Digital compensation applications have been available at Deutsche Bahn since 2021.
beb/dpa-afx