Deutsche Bahn working positively despite numerous challenges
First man of Deutsche Bahn (DB), Richard Lutz considers his company’s performance in 2017 as very positive. Despite numerous challenges and problems (technical malfunctions, weather conditions, delays) profit and loss balance is much better than 2016. That is, train as a mean of transportation in Germany has become more popular than ever.
International trains were used like never before: above all, ICE fleet of 260 units, according to the German Handelsblatt, saw a record growth of 58.5%, three percent higher than in 2016.
A slightly lesser growth of passengers was recorded by slower IC trains (49.7% compared to 48.3% in 2016). Total number of passengers transported by DB in 2017 was 141 million (compared to 139 million in 2016).
ICE trains (with speeds up to 300 km/h) have become a serious competition to airline companies Lufthansa and Easyjet on Berlin-Munich section, where the number of passengers in the last year was almost doubled (3.6 million).