German Rail – Now it’s time to give customers – Süddeutsche.de

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With a staff restructuring the railway wants to prepare for the future. But what do the passengers it? Competing with car, plane and bus, the train will continue to have a hard time.

Guido Bohsem and Daniela Kuhr , Berlin / Munich

Deutsche Bahn CEO Rüdiger Grube is excoriated clearly. Munter he presents in Berlin on Tuesday his future plans for the train to the public. He answered questions with enthusiasm and precision. The six years as chief executive of the state-owned not one notices him. Less than a week before his 64th birthday mine want to know clearly again and sets out to completely revamp the railway. Beginning with the board he wants to undergo the company a complete overhaul. Everything will be different. The Company has future only six directors and no longer eight. The responsibilities of the management team are re-cut. Grube: “I need a team that brings intensely.”

The Central with its 7600 employees to concentrate on their primary responsibilities, which is why 5200 railway workers are outsourced in a new subdivision. The vast amount of web properties will manage better and more efficiently, the two major foreign subsidiaries sell, optionally in portions pit. But above all, wants to pit all the attention on the domestic market: the railway in Germany. The company should be faster and leaner to make you look more and can better take care of the customers.

While the web loses customers and revenue, the long distance buses are gaining strongly.

(Photo: Catherina Hess )

There is, however, also high time. In the first half of this year, just as it did last year, train travel was often no pleasure. Above all, the strikes of train drivers have deterred passengers. Also placed repeatedly severe storms paralyze rail traffic, which for passengers means: either they are too late to your destination, or they miss their connecting train – or opt instead for equal another means of transport. In passenger so for car, plane and increasingly also for the remote bus. And freight transport companies discover the advantages of the trucks again. Of course, that makes felt in the half-year figures, the pit presented on Tuesday. Earnings before interest and taxes fell by more than 18 percent to 890 million euros. In order that the web has almost one-fifth less than in the same period last year earned. For the full year mine had initially targeted 2.2 billion euro profit. According to internal documents it now expects only two billion euros.

If the head of Deutsche Bahn now therefore announces major restructuring of the Group, it also makes it easy to forestall criticism of his recent performance. Because mine know that in grandiose announcements he did not leave it in the past lacking. The proof, however, that it can also implement them, he is so far remained guilty. For example, the 2020, which had been announced in March 2012 the CEO. At that time, the Executive Board had decided that the Bahn wants to double its sales by 2020 to 70 billion euros. One goal, however, from the pit itself had to say goodbye again in March. Now he plans to only 50 billion euros in sales in 2020. Or his various announcements that the service better, the trains clean and the web is more punctual. For a while it seemed as if he had succeeded. In recent months, but the actions of the train driver increased again. As was to be heard again by failed air conditioning, in the board bistros refused the coffee machines or refrigerators. And in long-distance traffic in June were only three out of four trains on time. But these are the points that feel the passengers immediately. One may fairly safe to assume that they all great strategies, visions and Group restructuring plans of the Executive Board are fully no matter – as long as it falls short of such concrete things

SZ Graphics: Eiden; Source: Federal Statistical Office

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But mine has now laid the groundwork for that in future things will get better? He reduced the board, tightens the group and wants to save in this way over the next five years 710 million euros. This is certainly a good idea – but does not solve any of the apparent problems. So the train fleet of the web is in the long-distance transport was much too small and much too old on average. Some of the IC-cart ride for 40 years. The situation is noticeably improve until the end of 2017 – when the first to go from a total of 130 new ICx trains in operation. Until then we have to wait. And because the most motivated new board itself can not change anything. As long as it takes after all, be built and delivered to new features.

Another big problem is the long distance buses that have discovered more and more passengers since the release of the market in 2013 for themselves. Last year this competition has been the web 200 million euros on sales – cost and thus to profit. For an ICE costs almost the same amount, regardless of whether he drives full or empty. It took a while to get recognized in the railways, how serious this new competition is increasing. But in March, the then reigning passenger Executive Ulrich Homburg a comprehensive approach before to make the long-distance train more attractive: for example, by more frequent connections between major cities and more connections of small towns. In addition, there is a new trial BahnCard and special 19-euro tickets. At all the wants Homburgs successor, the former long-distance leader Berthold Huber, also hold. Why so many people wonder why this board position was ever substituted when one considers Homburgs plans but right.

CEO Grube has repeatedly promised to make the trains more attractive, has done so far, however, little.

(Photo: Ina Fassbender / dpa )

In addition, changes However, even the best strategy not alter the true dilemma of the web. It is simply a very expensive and complex transport Complex because it depends on a technically flawless functioning infrastructure both at the bottom of the rail and the top of the overhead contact lines. And because you can not give time to overtake a slow train as it can cars, buses and airplanes. Pricey but the web is also because they must raise its own funds for the preservation of the network annually over two billion euros because it this year 160 million euros on EEG apportionment, 60 million euros for the CO₂ emissions trading and 120 million must pay Euro electricity tax. Of the route charges to mention. In addition, the government wants to have close to a billion dividend from her. It is these massive costs that make the web fall behind in the competition with the car and the remote bus again. But because the new group structure will not change anything. The only one who can change that is the federal government.