Rail Expert Commission: Will the Service Have to Be Cut Now?

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Rail Expert Commission: Will the Service Have to Be Cut Now.

On November 3, the new “Robust Timetable” panel will begin its work in Berlin. The expert commission, convened by DB InfraGo, is to investigate how the rail company can get its trains running on time again more quickly on an aging and overloaded rail network. Proposals for greater reliability are expected in the new year.

One possible building block is already concrete: Enak Ferlemann, the former government rail commissioner and a member of DB InfraGo’s supervisory board, is putting reduced rail traffic on the table. His idea: Between Berlin and Hamburg, only one long-distance train an hour could run instead of one every 30 minutes as currently, allowing the trains to operate more reliably. Ferlemann is also expected to join the commission himself.

The focus is therefore not only on the rail company’s technical equipment. The experts are also to discuss how the timetable service would have to change so that trains can operate more reliably. The Handelsblatt report and the Financial Times report, also available under the same title on the ZEIT Online website, describe the same starting point.

Why Fewer Trains Do Not Automatically Mean More Punctuality

According to the rail company, infrastructure is the main reason for the high level of delays. Overloading, particularly at transport hubs, is an additional factor. Information provided to the transport committee says that in 2025, more than 10 percent of trains ran on routes with an occupancy rate of over 115 percent.

The consequences now extend far beyond individual overcrowded routes. Over the past 10 years, congestion-related delays increased by 150 percent. The figures for long-distance trains are similarly stark: In most months of the current year, nearly every second long-distance train was delayed. In the previous year, only 60 percent of all long-distance trains reached their destination without major delays.

The rail company has never been so punctual – the reason is its dilapidated and overloaded network.

The Dilemma

The proposed reduction in service between Berlin and Hamburg goes directly to the heart of the problem. Fewer trains on an overloaded route could create more space in the short term. Industry associations, however, consider this approach too simplistic. “Running fewer trains means fuller trains, not automatically more punctual trains,” said Dirk Flege, managing director of the lobbying association Allianz pro Schiene.

His criticism is aimed primarily at departure options. If the remaining trains cannot depart because they are overcrowded, they could end up running even less punctually. Peter Westenberger, managing director of the competitor association Die Güterbahnen, also rejects an across-the-board reduction in service. The industry already rejected the “less instead of more” approach a year ago in its “Reliable Rail Taskforce.” Instead, both associations are calling for more capacity on the rail network.

What the Panel Is to Determine in the New Year

The commission is working without predetermined results. Experienced participants with a range of perspectives are to discuss the issues at several meetings. According to information obtained by the German Press Agency, it is to begin in Berlin on November 3. Proposals for greater reliability are expected in the new year; they will then be assessed jointly with policymakers, the federal states and the industry.

The Mandate

The commission is to find solutions that make rail operations more stable and reliable during the coming years of intensive construction activity. According to the source, the rail company’s current record levels of renovation and construction have so far brought passengers hardly any noticeable benefits. The experts are therefore to enable a robust timetable precisely during this phase.

The Support

According to the available information, the Swiss timetable specialist SMA is also involved in the panel. Other partners will support the commission alongside SMA. The source text does not specify which companies are involved in detail.

The Next Steps

Until the proposals are presented in the new year, it remains unclear which measures will actually be implemented. A possible reduction in service is therefore not yet a decided outcome. So far, only the review mandate is certain: The panel will develop proposals, and the rail company will then assess them jointly with policymakers, the federal states and the industry. Enak Ferlemann’s example shows how concrete the debate over the number of trains between Berlin and Hamburg has already become.

What Passengers Should Know Now

What Is Changing

With the launch on November 3, work directly concerning the timetable is beginning. The rail company is seeking not only technical solutions for a more stable network. It is explicitly asking how rail service can be reconciled with the overloaded infrastructure.

What Is Not Yet Decided

There is currently no adopted timetable change, no identification of affected routes and no fixed date for implementing specific proposals. The commission’s full membership is also not listed in the available information; only Enak Ferlemann’s participation has been mentioned.

For your planning, this means: A reduction in service is a possibility under discussion, not a decided fact. The debate will become more concrete at the latest when the proposals the rail company says are to be presented in the new year are released. The decisive question will then be whether less traffic on the overloaded network actually produces more reliable connections, or whether a lack of capacity merely leads to fuller trains that struggle to depart on time.