Organizational structure
Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG) is the parent company of DB Group. It has been a stock corporation under German law since it was founded in 1994 and accordingly has a dual management and control structure comprising a Management Board and a Supervisory Board. It is wholly owned by the Federal Republic of Germany (Federal Government).
Within DB Group, DB AG manages all the business units in its function as an operating management holding company and supports the business units via various central Group functions (including legal, corporate development, finance and treasury, balance sheets, tax, insurance) and administrative service units. In addition, operating service units, as legally independent DB AG subsidiaries, primarily provide services for internal customers. These include DB Systel GmbH, DB Sicherheit GmbH, DB Services GmbH and DB Kommunikationstechnik GmbH.
The DB Group RIC are legally independent companies with separate balance sheets and statements of income, and thus fulfill all unbundling requirements under European and national law. There is also a functional unbundling, which guarantees the independence of decisions by DB Netz AG on infrastructure access and charges. Reliability and stability form the basis of the high quality of the infrastructure. The essential cornerstones for profitable business are sustainable financing of
the existing infrastructure and its expansion as required. The performance and financing agreement (Leitungs- und Finanzierungsvereinbarung; LUFV) contributes significantly to ensuring the maintenance of the existing network.
