Delay alerts and double discounts: DB to release new Navigator app functions

The Deutsche Bahn DB Navigator app will soon have new functions which, among other things, will allow passengers to book discount-priced tickets and check alternative routes after a delay from their mobile phone.

DB Navigator app gets new features

DB Navigator is a must-have app for anyone who regularly uses public transport and long-distance trains in Germany. Now, Deutsche Bahn has announced that it has begun a staggered rollout of the latest version of the app, which will include some new features.

The sidebar menu on the app is set to be replaced with three main buttons at the bottom of the screen; “Book”, “Travel” and “Profile”. Perhaps the most useful new feature, under the “Book” button, passengers will soon be able to search for same-day tickets at the cheapest available price. It will also be possible to apply multiple discounts when buying a ticket.

Other new features on the 24.1 version of the app will include being able to buy a ticket for your dog or your bike.

Navigator will alert train passengers to delays

A new feature which one would assume would already have been included in the app is real-time delay updates and alternative route suggestions. Under the new “Travel” button, app users will be able to receive recommendations for alternative routes in the event of disruptions or missed connections - both of which are common occurrences. 

Since the rail company is infamous for incessant delays - late or cancelled trains led to Deutsche Bahn issuing 3,8 million refunds in 2022 - making access to information about delays and alternative routes so central to the new app may be interpreted by critics as a suggestion that lateness should be an accepted feature of travelling with die Bahn.

In an interview with a train driver, a recent news segment by German public broadcaster ZDF revealed that expected delays are at the centre of the international company’s cost-cutting strategy. The driver explained that instead of renovating the thousands of miles of train tracks in disrepair across Germany, Deutsche Bahn introduces temporary speed restrictions which “is like a speed limit on the autobahn which is introduced because of a pothole,” the train driver told the programme. “Many train timetables are adjusted to account for these so that passengers do not notice”.

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