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Train passengers at Berlin Central Station
Photo: Annette Riedl / dpa
The long-distance trains of Deutsche Bahn were delayed more often in April than they have been for a long time.
The ICE and Intercity trains only arrived on time 69.1 percent of the time, the company said.
That was the lowest rate since July 2015. A train is considered punctual if the scheduled arrival time is not exceeded by more than six minutes.
A railway spokesman attributed the deterioration mainly to construction sites.
A record sum of 13.6 billion euros will flow into rails and train stations this year.
"In April, the railway focused on particularly busy routes." The railway had announced in advance that trips around Easter could therefore take longer.
Border controls cause delays
Accordingly, there were larger works between Berlin and Munich, Fulda and Frankfurt, Frankfurt and Cologne, Karlsruhe and Basel as well as Stuttgart and Ulm.
"In addition, the ongoing border controls had a negative impact on punctuality," said the spokesman.
During the Easter holidays, the train counted as many passengers for the first time as before the corona pandemic.
From Maundy Thursday to Easter Monday alone, 1.8 million people traveled long-distance, 20 percent more than in the previous year.
According to the company, ICE and IC trains were used to capacity at an average of 54 percent, with special trains also being used.
80 percent of the trains should be on time in 2022
For the year as a whole, the Group has set itself the goal of achieving a punctuality rate of 80 percent in long-distance transport.
In 2021, an average of just over 75 percent of the ICE and IC trains were on time.
The group expects that many construction sites will slow down the trains for a few more years.
He puts the investment backlog in infrastructure at almost 60 billion euros.
The punctuality target for 2030 is 85 percent.
rai/dpa
