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ICE: Last week the route between Frankfurt and Brussels celebrated its 20th anniversary
Photo: Future Image / imago images
One of Deutsche Bahn's most prestigious ICE connections has a massive problem with delays: On the route from Frankfurt am Main via Cologne to Brussels, "operational punctuality" deteriorated by more than 37 percent between January 2021 and July 2022.
This emerges from the response of the Federal Ministry of Transport to a question from a member of parliament.
In July, only 50 percent of the trains were able to meet the target travel time of around three hours.
Reliability has also decreased.
Of the seven daily trains in each direction between Frankfurt and Brussels, 42 were completely canceled in July, and 166 were only able to run on a section due to technical problems.
Last week the 20th anniversary of the line, which the group operates together with the Belgian State Railways (SNCB), was celebrated.
SNCB boss Sophie Dutordoir nevertheless praised the connection as a “pillar of sustainable mobility”.
Also affected by delays is the ICE line from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, a project with the Dutch state railway.
Only 58 percent of the trains were on time here in July.
The railway justifies the delays with construction work and technical problems of the trains.
The Belgian railways that were particularly affected by the failures said they were in talks with DB.
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