Overview
- Company figures show only 52.6% of long‑distance trains arrived within DB’s six‑minute on‑time definition in July 2026, continuing a months‑long decline.
- For the first half of 2026 DB recorded 58.7% long‑distance punctuality, missing its self‑set 2026 target of at least 60%.
- The operator says the fall reflects a sustained rise in infrastructure failures, a heavy volume of construction work that strains the network, and extreme heat in late June and July that forced some maintenance to be postponed.
- Separate July incidents — a reported sabotage on the Köln–Düsseldorf route and a sudden bridge problem in North Rhine‑Westphalia — added acute disruptions on top of chronic faults.
- DB highlights that its passenger punctuality measure, which counts cancellations and uses a 14 minute 59 second threshold, was about 55% in July while regional services ran at roughly 87.9%, and CEO Evelyn Palla has begun restructuring management and set an 80% long‑distance goal for around 2035.