Dispute over the German Railways: Dobrindt, pit and the profit maximization of the web – FAZ – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

In the relationship between Deutsche Bahn and its owner covenant no longer stands out for the best, since the balance sheet no longer shines as before. After the general meeting in the spring las Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said Deutsche Bahn CEO Rüdiger Grube, the Levites, he called for better earnings figures, punctual trains and more wireless by the end.

author: Kerstin Schwenningen, business correspondent in Berlin. Follow

These requirements were clearly intended as targets for mine – and at the same minimum conditions for the year-end pending decision of the Supervisory Board on the renewal of his contract. Even after this announcement remained inconsistencies not. So Dobrindt was displeased with mine, who insisted only restricted to grant free use of the Wi-Fi use in trains.

pit in turn disliked the design of rail regulation by the coalition. Only at the last minute before passage of the bill in parliament were able to convince the railway guide new bills that clear favoring of transport at the infrastructure charges shall not be borne by the long-distance transport.

When digitizing are the ghosts

with these mixed memories in the luggage and with a lot of need to talk to Dobrindt and mine went before the weekend on a common ICE-trip to Hamburg, more specifically on the mesh, the largest rail yard in Europe.

Dobrindt could be explained on the cab of a freight locomotive the intricacies of train composition – and had to learn that the digitalization in freight transport is still expandable: Manual traction couplings on heavy equipment are still common, the documentation for the Federal railway Office is on paper, not electronically. ” / p>

When digitizing the interests of the Minister and the manager overlap most. With regard to wireless in ICE trains to pit will be no negligence accuse. 100 million euros invested the web according to recent information; thereby they will also renew outdated mobile repeater on trains by the end.

low prices to attract customers more

Even with the punctuality pit stalks approached Dobrindts ideas. The July was the “turning point”, hopes the web-head. After months with ever decreasing punctuality values ​​are in current month arrived on time at the destination more than four out of five long-distance trains. As good as the track was not in the whole year. So the full year to exceed the mark of 80 percent remains difficult.

pit are nevertheless optimistic. Dobrindt hear from him, the new site management is a key to success. The most troublesome of the daily 750 sites have the web simply organized differently, explains mine. Even better earnings figures there should be. To balance of the first half, which plans to release on Wednesday of the DB executive, he says: “You will be surprised positively.”

In the long-distance transport, the railway will improve through the use of new trains its cost structure – and by attract low prices more passengers in the trains. After the autumn holidays, there will be new promotions, so that the train can compete against car and remote bus. If the car to the winter raise prices? Mine says: “The time of big price increases is over, as the past two years have shown, as we have kept prices fairly stable over long distances.”