Rail customers cannot hope for more punctual trains in the next few months, but they can expect more support from Deutsche Bahn.

The group wants to hire 1,000 new service workers for stressed train drivers “in the short term”.

Of these, 750 employees are to work as train attendants and in on-board catering, and Deutsche Bahn is also launching a pilot project in the form of 100 new "guest attendants" who will ensure that customers on the trains - for example in the countless cases of "reversed carriage order" - can find their seats and stow their luggage sensibly.

130 additional service staff perform similar support work at the major train stations in Germany.

Corinna Budras

Business correspondent in Berlin.

  • Follow I follow

"We are not satisfied with our punctuality, so we are now starting where we can quickly take a step towards our passengers: more staff on board our trains and at the stations," said Michael Peterson, DB Passenger Long-Distance Transport Board Member in Berlin.

"We want to be there for our customers more."

customer frustration

The additional service staff, who will strengthen the existing team of 8,000 employees so far, should also ensure that the railways no longer produce their own delays: Where trains have been delayed in the past because they have to wait for late on-board personnel, the new ones can now deal with them The railway manager promised that new service teams would be formed ad hoc for employees.

Deutsche Bahn also wants to alleviate the frustration of customers elsewhere: Peterson announced that anyone who is dependent on a connecting train for their journey should in future find “more generous”, and thus probably more realistic, transfer times in the Bahn Navigator on the Internet or in the app .

The software no longer displays connections that may be missed due to the tight connection.

This affects around 800 connections.

There, the railway determines individually and depending on the construction site situation, which transfer times are generous enough.

This can be seen as an admission that punctuality will not change, at least in the medium term. In June, Deutsche Bahn's figures were below 60 percent for the first time.

Four out of ten trains are now arriving late.

Peterson cited the ailing rail infrastructure as the reason, which is currently unable to cope with the current onslaught of rail customers.

He emphasized that never before have so many people traveled as many kilometers on the ICE and Intercity as in the past three months from May to July 2022.

Traffic performance increased by around three percent compared to the record year 2019.

The correction in the travel information therefore has another reason: In this way, Deutsche Bahn hopes, customer satisfaction will at least be achieved through better planning.

Conversely, however, this also means that when changing trains in the future it could be worth checking the Bahn app for earlier connecting trains: If a train should be on time, a shorter transfer time would ultimately be possible and would lead to faster success.

In such cases, Peterson promised to be generous with the savings price in the future.

Normally the inspectors insist on the train connection.

Should the unusual punctuality of the railways open up more leeway for customers, the railways will not oppose this.