DB to pause construction works over Christmas to reduce delays

Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla has announced the rail company will pause construction works over the Christmas period to reduce train delays.

Deutsche Bahn to pause construction over Christmas

Speaking on the Table.Briefings podcast, newly-appointed Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla  nnounced the rail company will pause construction work over the Christmas period. “We will try to wind down construction work over the Christmas holidays to relieve the network,” Palla explained. “Everything that can roll, will roll”.

Around 5 million passengers are expected to travel with Deutsche Bahn over Christmas, and ticket sales are already 6 percent higher than in 2024. The rail company also reduced construction works over last year’s Christmas period.

Palla is relatively new to the DB CEO role and succeeds Richard Lutz, whom Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder sacked in August due to chronic delays across the network. An Italian national from South Tyrol, Palla previously led the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Regio and is the only DB board member who can actually drive a train.

Passengers should still expect delays

Despite Palla’s plans, passengers should expect some delays. In October, monthly punctuality rates were lower than ever before; only 48,5 percent of long-distance trains were on time. Deutsche Bahn considers a train on time when it arrives at a destination no longer than five minutes and 59 seconds after the scheduled arrival time.

Palla doesn’t have much hope for the annual figures either. “At the end of the year, we will likely see a punctuality rate for long-distance trains with a five at the beginning,” she told the podcast.

Construction work to update Germany’s dilapidated track network is overdue and should reduce delays in the long term, but passengers will have to be patient. 

The number of construction sites across the track network will increase from 26.000 to 28.000 in 2026. Only in 2027 are passengers likely to start seeing punctuality and general service improvements.