Germany's new transport minister, Steffen Bilger, plans to link bonus payments for Deutsche Bahn managers to the achievement of federal performance targets, saying current punctuality figures are unacceptable.
Bilger, of the CDU, told Bild am Sonntag he wants tangible improvements in train punctuality, calling existing results "completely insufficient." The government is preparing a new financing agreement with Deutsche Bahn that will determine billions in rail infrastructure spending. Under the plan, failure to meet federally mandated goals would directly reduce executive bonuses.
The push comes as punctuality on the Hamburg–Berlin corridor fell to just 25.8 percent between mid-June and mid-July, down sharply from 49.6 percent. The route reopened in June after a €2.7 billion general overhaul — well above the originally budgeted €2.2 billion — during which 165 kilometres of track, nearly 250 switches and 28 stations were renewed.