DB accused of cancelling delayed trains to improve punctuality stats

According to a report from SPIEGEL, Deutsche Bahn has been cancelling scheduled trains in order to improve overall punctuality statistics. The state-owned railway company broadly denies the claims.

Deutsche Bahn cancelling trains which could run

A report by German magazine SPIEGEL, which cites internal Deutsche Bahn memoranda and staff group chats, has revealed that the company is cancelling trains which could run in order to improve delay statistics.

The SPIEGEL report gave specific examples of Deutsche Bahn’s attempts to save face. On September 16, the ICE 616 from Munich to Hamburg was cancelled, citing “short-notice staff shortages”. The magazine says internal group chats show the service was cancelled to improve overall punctuality.

In another case on September 11, a delayed ICE was cancelled at Cologne to improve overall punctuality. A Deutsche Bahn long-distance train is considered late when it arrives at its destination more than six minutes after the scheduled arrival time. But cancelled trains are not included in punctuality statistics.

According to Deutsche Bahn staff who spoke to SPIEGEL, the trains cancelled on September 11 and 16 continued their journey to their intended destination, but without any passengers on board.

DB denies claims of cancelled ghost trains

Deutsche Bahn denied that the company is generally cancelling good-to-run but delayed trains in order to improve statistics, but acknowledged that services are sometimes prematurely cancelled when it makes sense for the company.

A spokesperson from Deutsche Bahn also told SPIEGEL that the company needed to keep delays to a minimum, which doesn’t just apply to directly impacted trains, but also to other trains.

For the cases of September 11 and 16, Deutsche Bahn said that it made sense to “implement the discretionary measure [that SPIEGEL] mentioned,” but only because there were alternative routes and services for passengers to take.

Starved of funding, Deutsche Bahn’s punctuality rates have significantly dropped in recent years. In 2017, 78,5 percent of Germany’s long-distance trains were arriving on time and in 2024, the punctuality rate fell to just 62,5 percent.

Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz was sacked in August, with Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) announcing the government would draw up a plan to improve services.