Actions

In 2025, the measures to improve punctuality were consolidated in the S3 restructuring program. There are five packages of measures to stabilize punctuality in 2026:

Hub measures

Many delays currently occur at highly utilized hubs. Among other things, scheduled train starts and the neutralization of delay effects from the hubs are extremely important when it comes to relieving the burden on the hubs. The focus is on the provisioning process and increasing starting on-schedule rates as drivers for overall punctuality. This will be achieved through a targeted package of measures including flexible turnaround concepts and the introduction of flexible departures with earlier scheduled departure times for customers, which will help to create a resilience buffer at the hubs. The hub measures will affect the entire rail sector.

The hub measures are assigned to DB InfraGO as line activities. There is one nationwide network center and several regional network centers, each consisting of teams from different business units.

Line measures

The line measures are intended to reduce overloading in the system and contribute to operational stability. This will be achieved through planning and scheduling measures. In particular, these include the introduction of a buffer minute, increasing the maximum speed on existing high-speed lines from 250 km/h to 280 km/h in the first stage, and the further development of bottleneck management and passenger-centered control. The line measures affect the entire rail sector.

The following positive punctuality effects are expected:

The line measures are implemented on an interdisciplinary basis between Group management and the business units within the respective line organization. The expected improvement from the line measures could not be fully achieved in 2025 due to opposing effects, mainly from facility disruptions and the impact of the construction volume.

Long-distance vehicle quality

The rejuvenation and modernization of the fleet as well as the expansion of maintenance depots shall reduce vehicle failures that affect punctuality and thus improve vehicle availability. Specifically, this is to be achieved through digitalization and vehicle projects as well as measures relating to fleets and depots. The punctuality effects will be achieved to a large extent through the StratoFER (strategic supply optimization: other parts of the network next to the high-performance network, supplementary network, resilience) and Nova-VL (scheduling of the future in traffic control centers) projects. One of the aims of StratoFER is to increase the resilience of long-distance services to disruptive factors and to simplify the service concept across the entire network. Nova-VL is laying the foundations for the scheduling of the future in terms of end-to-end passenger control. To this end, the working methodology and control logic of traffic control centers is being reorganized in order to enable better scheduling decisions for the majority of passengers and to ensure consistent control and information. The improvement in vehicle quality affects DB Long-Distance. The following punctuality effects are expected:

At DB Long-Distance, vehicle faults were reduced to a greater extent than originally anticipated in 2025, among other things. The measures are being implemented operationally and in schedules as part of DB Long-Distance’s line organization.

“Synchronized construction”

One driver of unpunctuality is construction work at short notice and the resulting late preparation of schedule documents, which make it difficult to ensure predictable and punctual rail operations. The aim of “Synchronized construction” is to ensure that the modernization of the rail infrastructure can go hand in hand with stable operations. This will be achieved through standardized closure periods for maintenance and capital expenditure measures in the schedule. The action is described in detail under “Synchronized construction”µ

The following punctuality effects are expected as a result:

Corridor modernizations and maintenance

The gradual implementation of corridor modernizations on the high-performance network should make the infrastructure more efficient, reliable and predictable, which should also improve our punctuality. The following punctuality effects are expected:

The first corridor modernization was completed at the end of 2024, but initial disruptions in the course of the recommissioning of the Riedbahn and counteracting effects from increased infrastructure disruptions had an adverse impact on the effectiveness of the measures. Further information on the corridor modernizations can be found in the combined management report under Transformation of the highly utilized network into a high-performance network.

Action plans 2026

The measures described will be continued in 2026.