DB Long-Distance business unit

Business model

DB Long-­­Distance offers customers comfortable and environmentally friendly travel within Germany and into neighboring countries. Regularly scheduled daily services with the ICE/Intercity/EC fleet form the backbone of long-­­distance transport. Offerings are being expanded by island services to Sylt and Wangerooge. Long-­­distance bus services (IC Bus) provide an extension to the rail transport offering for domestic and international travel.

The important key performance figures are volume sold, volume produced and the load factor. The management is based on the target figures for passenger growth, operating profit (EBIT), employee satisfaction, punctuality and customer satisfaction.

The cost side largely correlates with the volume produced, which is derived from the schedule. Personnel and facility resource management is determined on the basis of the annual train schedule to optimize the cost per unit per train kilometer traveled. The key drivers are personnel, maintenance and infrastructure expenses, the latter being very fixed-­cost intensive. Only a small portion of expenses vary with train capacity utilization.

The most important sources of income for long-­­distance transport operated on a purely commercial basis are revenues from the sale of tickets and BahnCards. Our employees, a modern vehicle fleet and a high-­­quality infrastructure are key resources. This is why intra-­Group infrastructure companies and service providers as well as the vehicle industry are important partners. Furthermore, the cooperation with railways in countries bordering Germany is very important for cross-border connections.