The long-distance traffic of Deutsche Bahn was somewhat more punctual in April than in the previous month, but the self-imposed annual target is moving further into the distance. In the past month, the ICE and IC trains reached 70.3 percent of the stops on time, as the state-owned group announced. In March, the rate was 68.4 percent. DB has set itself a target of well over 70 percent for the whole of 2023. The best value so far in the course of the year was in January at 73.2 percent.
A train is considered punctual in the railway statistics as long as it does not arrive at a station with a delay of more than six minutes. Train cancellations or missed connecting trains are not taken into account.
With the previous punctuality values, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that Deutsche Bahn will achieve an annual target of 75 percent and more. Punctuality is currently being impaired primarily by the ailing and overburdened infrastructure and the associated many construction sites – there is no sign of a decisive improvement in the coming months. The summer months are also considered a critical time for punctuality, because then many people are traveling in long-distance transport and delays can occur more quickly, for example at train stations.
In regional traffic, punctuality in April was 93.3 percent, slightly above the values in February and March (92.6 percent each). Far more trains are used in regional traffic than in long-distance traffic.
