Deutsche Bahn: More Passengers, Less Punctuality and a €2.3bn Hole

Germany's state railway is carrying more passengers than ever and losing money at scale. Deutsche Bahn posted a net loss of €2.3 billion for 2025, the company confirmed in late March, a result that lays bare the tension at the heart of one of Europe's most ambitious infrastructure programmes.

Group revenues rose 3% to around €27 billion and operating profit returned to positive territory at €297 million, but those headline figures were overwhelmed by a €1.4 billion writedown on long-distance services, itself a consequence of lower revenue expectations tied directly to the state of the network. The infrastructure is not good enough to justify the valuations once placed on the business that runs on top of it.

The punctuality data tells the same story in plainer terms. Just 60.1% of long-distance trains arrived on time in 2025, down from 62.5% in 2024, and a long way from the 74.4% recorded a decade ago. Germany's transport minister Patrick Schnieder described the trajectory as a threat to democracy, a remark that would sound hyperbolic anywhere other than a country where the railway is woven into civic life.

CEO Evelyn Palla, who framed 2026 as a year of transformation, warned that punctuality will remain under pressure as construction activity intensifies. The network overhaul, now scheduled to run through to 2036, creates an uncomfortable paradox: the investment required to fix the railway makes it worse in the short term.

Gross investment hit a record €22 billion in 2025, with €19 billion directed at infrastructure alone. Combined federal and DB investment is expected to exceed €23 billion in 2026.

Passenger numbers, at least, continue to grow. The number of rail passengers rose 3.4% to 1.93 billion in 2025. Germans are still choosing the train. They are simply learning to expect it late.