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. The long-distance bus service (IC Bus) was discontinued at the end of 2020. With the extensive expansion of European rail transport in recent years, attractive and fast train connections are now available on the corresponding routes.
The most important target figures are: passenger growth, operating profit (EBIT), employee satisfaction, punctuality and customer satisfaction. The management is carried out in particular on the basis of the performance indicators volume sold, volume produced and train seat utilization ratio. The cost side largely correlates with the planned volume produced, which is derived from the services offered. A portion of the costs, among other things, for train-paths, station stops and energy, depend on the actual volume produced. Resource assignments of personnel and facilities are aligned with the annual schedule in order to optimize costs per unit per train kilometer traveled. The key drivers are personnel, maintenance and infrastructure expenses, meaning the business is 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 reve - nues from the sale of tickets and BahnCards.
Our employees, a modern vehicle fleet and a high-quality infrastructure are decisive for success. This is why intraGroup infrastructure companies and service providers as well as the vehicle industry are important partners. Furthermore, cooperation with partner railways is very important for cross-border connections.
