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Deutsche Bahn

The Deutsche Bahn AG (IPA: [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈbaːn]; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company (AG) and the largest railway company in the world.[2][3][4]

Deutsche Bahn AG
Company typeState-owned enterprise (Aktiengesellschaft)
IndustryRail transport, Logistics
Predecessors
Founded1 January 1994; 30 years ago (1994-01-01)
HeadquartersBahntower, ,
Area served
Europe
Key people
Richard Lutz [de], CEO
ProductsRail transport, cargo transport, services
Revenue 56.3 billion (2022)[1]: 52 
€227 million (2022)[1]: 52 
OwnerGovernment of Germany (100%)
Number of employees
324,136 (2022)
Websitewww.deutschebahn.com
Headquarters of Deutsche Bahn in the Bahntower at Potsdamer Platz, Berlin

Deutsche Bahn is the second-largest transport company in Germany, after the German postal and logistics company Deutsche Post / DHL. DB provides both long-distance and regional transport, serving around 132 million long distance passengers and 1.6 billion regional passengers in 2022. In 2022, DB transported 222 millions tons of cargo.[5]

The group is divided into several companies, including DB Fernverkehr (long-distance passenger), DB Regio (local passenger services) and DB Cargo (rail freight). The Group subsidiary DB Netz also operates large parts of the German railway infrastructure, making it the largest rail network in Europe.

DB was founded after the merger between the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1994 after the unification of Germany and has been operating ever since.

The company generates about half of its total revenue from operating rail transport, with the other half of the business comprising further transport and logistics businesses, as well as various service providers. The company generates further revenue through public transport contracts and support services for infrastructure maintenance and expansion.

Company profile edit

The Deutsche Bahn Group is divided into various organizational units that perform their tasks with subsidiaries.

Personenverkehr edit

DB Personenverkehr is the unit that manages passenger travel within Germany. Originally called Reise & Touristik (English: Travel and Tourism), this group is responsible for the managing, servicing and running of German passenger services. This group is divided into three business areas: DB Fernverkehr, DB Regio and Arriva.

Arriva edit

 
Arriva North West Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TL in Liverpool

Deutsche Bahn purchased Arriva in August 2010 off the London Stock Exchange.[6][7] To satisfy the European Commission, Arriva's German operations were rebranded Netinera and sold.[8] As of July 2022, Arriva operated 15,700 buses and 800 railway vehicles in 14 European countries, mainly in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[9] In 2019, Deutsche Bahn unsuccessfully tried to sell the business.[10] In October 2023, Deutsche Bahn agreed on terms to sell Arriva to I Squared Capital, with the transaction scheduled to be completed in 2024.[11]

DB Fernverkehr edit

 
A Siemens ICE 3 long-distance high speed train of DB Fernverkehr

DB Fernverkehr AG is a semi-independent division of Deutsche Bahn that operates long-distance passenger trains in Germany. It was founded in 1999 in the second stage of the privatisation of German Federal Railways under the name of DB Reise & Touristik and renamed in 2003.

 
An IC2 Bombardier Twindexx /Doppelstock long distance Intercity Train also from DB Fernverkehr at Köln Hbf

DB Fernverkehr operates all Intercity Express and Intercity trains in Germany as well as in some neighboring countries and several EuroCity and EuroCityExpress trains throughout Europe. Unlike its sister companies DB Regio and DB Cargo, DB Fernverkehr still holds a de facto monopoly in its segment of the market as it operates hundreds of trains per day, while all competitors' long-distance services combined amount to no more than 10–15 trains per day.

Additionally DB Fernverkehr operated a few long-distance coach services throughout Germany, called IC Bus.

DB Regio edit

 
A Bombardier Talent 2 regional train of DB Regio in Bavaria

DB Regio AG is the subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn that operates passenger trains on short and medium distances in Germany. Unlike its long-distance counterpart, DB Fernverkehr, it does not operate trains on its own account. Traffic is ordered and paid for by the Bundesländer (states) or their respective SPNV-Aufgabenträger (Regional train operation supervisors).

Some states have awarded long-term contracts to DB Regio (usually 10 to 15 years), in others, DB Regio's operations are decreasing, in North Rhine-Westphalia, their market share is expected to be lower than 50%. DB Regio rail services are divided into several regional companies:

The bus services consist of 25 bus companies, which have subsidiary companies themselves.

Infrastructure edit

DB Netz/DB InfraGO edit

The infrastructure division was divided into the DB Netz (rail infrastructure), DB Station&Service (stations and services) and DB Energie (Energy) business units. At the end of December 2023, DB Netz merged with DB Station&Service to create DB InfraGO AG. The new company is intended to reduce poor communication between the two previously separate infrastructure firms and to be more 'oriented towards the common good.' In fact, that is what the GO in InfraGO stands for in German: 'Gemeinwohlorientierte.' [12]

DB Engineering & Consulting edit

 
Jonas Deichmann training in Deutsche Bahn's climate chamber

DB Engineering & Consulting, which is responsible for construction supervision, construction planning and maintenance, is also assigned to this department without being part of a business area.

Via its subsidiary DB Engineering&Consulting, DB signed a memorandum of understanding with Iranian rail operator Bonyad Eastern Railways (BonRail) in May 2017 and shortly after a consulting contract with Islamic Republic of Iran Railways; both projects were abandoned after the United States imposed new sanctions against Iran and said firms doing business with Iran would be barred from doing business with the United States.[13]

The California High-Speed Rail Authority's (CHSRA) board approved on 15 November 2017 an early train operator contract with DB Engineering & Consulting USA.[14] The firm is the U.S. arm of Deutsche Bahn AG. As early train operator, DB Engineering & Consulting will assist CHSRA with planning, designing and implementing the state's high-speed rail program.

In Germany, DB E&C acts as a planning office and in construction supervision for Deutsche Bahn construction sites.

Logistics edit

 
Freight train from DB Cargo in Germany

The Transport and Logistics division acted in the market with the business units DB Schenker Logistics and DB Schenker Rail, which were combined under the umbrella of DB Schenker, and the Intermodal division, which operates in combined transport. In 2016, rail freight transport was separated from logistics and DB Schenker Rail was renamed DB Cargo.

In cooperation with the logistics provider time:matters, DB offers the transport of shipments weighing up to 20 kg on its EC/IC/ICE trains.[15]

Foreign firms edit

 
DB Schenker Rail (UK) Class 67 hauling Chiltern Railways Mark 3 carriages at Leamington Spa on the Chiltern Main Line

DB also has interests abroad, owning the United Kingdom's largest rail freight operator, DB Cargo UK, which also operates the British Royal Train[16] and also has interests in Eastern Europe. It is possible to obtain train times for any journey in Europe from Deutsche Bahn's website.[17]

Trans-Eurasia Logistics is a joint venture with Russian Railways (RŽD) that operates container freight trains between Germany and China via Russia.

Key persons edit

 
Richard Lutz, CEO of the DB Group

Management board edit

  • Richard Lutz (CEO Chairman of the management board) since 2017
  • Levin Holle (Member of the management board for Finance and Logistics, CFO)
  • Daniela Gerd tom Markotten (Member of the management board for Digitalization and Technology)
  • Berthold Huber (Member of the management board for Infrastructure)
  • Sigrid Nikutta (Member of the management board for Freight Transport)
  • Martin Seiler (Member of the management board for Human Resources and Legal Affairs)
  • Evelyn Palla (Member of the management board for Regional Transport)
  • Michael Peterson (Member of the management board for Long Distance Passenger Transport)

Supervisory board edit

  • Michael Odenwald (chairman of the supervisory board)

History edit

Background: the Deutsche Reichsbahn edit

The railway network in Germany dates back to 1835 when the first tracks were laid on a 6 km (3.7 mi) route between Nuremberg and Fürth. The Deutsche Reichsbahn operated from 1920[18] through the Weimar and Nazi eras until 1949,[19] when it was split between East and West Germany into two successor entities, Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn, respectively.[20] They remained separate throughout the Cold War era division of Germany, and rejoined after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, and German reunification in 1990. On 1 January 1994 Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn were merged to form one company, Deutsche Bahn, the successor organisation to the Reichsbahn.[21][22][23][24] At the same time, Deutsche Bahn adopted its current logo and DB abbreviation. Kurt Weidemann modernised the logo and typographer Erik Spiekermann designed a new corporate font known as DB Type. When Deutsche Bahn was formed in January 1994, it became a joint stock-company, and was designed to operate the railways of both the former East and West Germany after unification in October 1990 as a single, uniform, and private company.[25] There are three main periods of development in this unified German railway: its formation, its early years (1994–1999), and the period from 1999 to the present.

Originally, DBAG had its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main but moved to Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin in 1996, where it occupies a 26-storey office tower designed by Helmut Jahn at the eastern end of the Sony Center and named Bahntower. As the lease was to expire in 2010, DB had announced plans to relocate to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, and in 2007 a proposal for a new headquarters by 3XN Architects won an architectural competition which also included Foster + Partners, Dominique Perrault and Auer + Weber.[26] However, these plans were put on hold due to the financial crisis of 2008, and the Bahntower lease was extended.[27] Construction of the new headquarters building was started in 2017 under the title "Cube Berlin" according to the designs by 3XN. Finished in February 2020, the Cube will house the legal offices of Deutsche Bahn, but not become the main headquarters.[28]

1999 to present edit

The second step of the Bahnreform (railway reform) was carried out in 1999. All rolling stock, track, personnel, and real assets were divided between the subsidiaries of DBAG: DB Reise & Touristik AG (long-distance passenger service, later renamed DB Station & Service AG (operating the stations)). This new organisational scheme was introduced not least to implement European Community directive 91/440/EEC that requires open access operations on railway lines by companies other than those that own the rail infrastructure.

In December 2007, DB reorganised again, bringing all passenger services into its DB Bahn arm, logistics under DB Schenker and infrastructure and operations under DB Netze.

The DB is owned by the Federal Republic. By the Constitution, the Federal Republic is required to retain (directly or indirectly) a majority of the infrastructure (the present DB Netze) stocks.

In 2008, it was agreed to "float" a portion of the business, meaning an end to the 100% share the German Federal Republic had in it, with a plan that 25% of the overall share would be sold to the private sector.[29] However the onset of the financial crisis of 2007–08 saw this cancelled.[30]

In 2014, the Jewish community of Thessaloniki demanded that the Deutsche Bahn, which is the successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, should reimburse the heirs of Greek Holocaust victims of Thessaloniki for train fares that they were forced to pay for their deportation from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz and Treblinka between March and August 1943.[31][32]

In June 2018 controversy grew in the United Kingdom over widespread cancellations of railway services and numerous delayed services operated by Deutsche Bahn in Britain, under its Northern brand. This resulted in Britain's Minister of Transport, Chris Grayling, setting up an enquiry into whether the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary had breached its contractual agreement to provide railway services in the north of England. He warned that if the company was found to be in breach of its contractual agreements it could be banned from running railway services in the United Kingdom.[33]

edit

Structure and subsidiaries edit

Train categories edit

Trains in Germany are classified by their stopping pattern:[34]

  • Fernverkehr (long-distance trains), also Fernzug
    • ICE (Intercity-Express) for high-speed long-distance train services between major cities and regions. Certain routes also cross European borders into the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Austria.
    • EC (EuroCity) for intercity trains that cross borders, and connect Germany with other countries. Can also be operated by foreign State Railways.
    • IC (InterCity) for long-distance semi-high-speed services that connect regions and cities. IC services are slightly lower in class than ICE services, with trains reaching lower speeds (average around 160 – 220 km/h), with more frequent stops. On some IC routes the trains use legacy railway lines instead of the high speed lines the ICE takes. International IC services are usually operated as EuroCity.
  • Just as ICE, EC and (few) IC cross European borders, train categories of other operators cross into Germany and are operated in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn:
    • ECE (EuroCity Express) for international high-speed rail services. Currently only one route from Frankfurt to Milan.
    • TGV from France to Frankfurt and Munich via Stuttgart.
    • RJ (Railjet) from Austria to Munich and Frankfurt as well as to Berlin.
  • Nahverkehr (local trains)
    • IRE (Interregio-Express) are longer distance RE trains that connect regions and cities. On most routes they serve as slower IC trains. IRE trains only exist in Baden-Württemberg and on the Hamburg–Berlin route.
    • RE (Regional-Express) serve regions and connects cities, and do not stop at every station on the route.
    • RB (Regionalbahn) stop at all stations on the route (except where S-Bahn is available) and are often the most basic train service available.
    • S (S-Bahn) is a type of rapid transit for larger cities and stop at all stations. S-Bahn operate high-frequency services and are usually characterised by crossing through the city centre with dense station spacing.[35]

Train categories no longer used include:

  • MET (Metropolitan) was a luxury train service between Hamburg and Cologne. The two special MET train sets are now used for IC and ICE services, and does still have a comfort level above the regular IC and ICE coaches.
  • IR (InterRegio), set between RE and IC was meant to connect cities and regions at a lower price, but also be used for local traffic. Replaced partly by IC, RE and IRE.
  • SE (Stadt-Express) operated as a mixture of RE and RB: trains skipped many stations in urban areas but made all stops in the countryside. Rebranded as RE and RB. In some regions, such as Rhine-Main (Frankfurt, Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund), the local transit authority advertised trains as SE. Internally, DB classified them as either RE or RB, but even DB trains display "SE" on their destination boards. This ceased in December 2016.

In the early days of DBAG, the most basic train categories, which were in use since the early days of rail travel in Germany, were also used:

  • D (D-Zug or Schnellzug, abbreviated from Durchgangszug) was the express train category and used to be the highest train category. It was replaced by IC and the even faster ICE. The trains of the SyltShuttle plus car shuttle service connecting the island of Sylt with the mainland are still officially referred to as D trains
  • E (Eilzug) was the semi-fast service offering faster journeys than normal passenger trains but not at such long distances and speed as D trains, though there were some quite long running E trains. No direct successor, would be located between RE and IC
  • N (Nahverkehrszug), the most basic form of train service stopping at all stations. When all local train services were vertaktet, i.e. operating at a fixed interval (mostly one train per hour), they were rebranded as RB

There are several other operators in Germany which sometimes offer other categories, also, a local transport authority or tariff associations might brand the trains in a different way than DB does. For example, in the Nuremberg region, RE and RB trains are not differentiated, but called R instead. In some regions, such as Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg, private operators do use the RE and RB labels, in others, such as Saxony, they do not. In online and print information systems of DB, private trains officially labelled RB and RE by their operators, might get a different label, for example "ABR" for trains operated by Abellio, though on platforms, trains and maps or timetables issued by the local transport authority overseeing regional train services, these abbreviations usually do not appear.

Codeshare agreements edit

In conjunction with Emirates, China Airlines, TAM Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, and Lufthansa, Deutsche Bahn operates the AIRail Service between Frankfurt Airport and Köln Hauptbahnhof/Bonn Hauptbahnhof, Düsseldorf, Freiburg, Hamburg, Hanover, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, and Stuttgart. Deutsche Bahn has the IATA designator 2A.[36]

Tickets edit

DB offers two different pricing models for single or return tickets for routes that include long-distance trains:

  • The Flexpreis (originally Normalpreis): gives full flexibility, i.e., all trains on the given date can be used on the chosen route. This price is independent of the time of purchase for a given route and tickets are reimbursable prior to the day of departure.
  • The Sparpreis and Super-Sparpreis are generally cheaper tickets that must be purchased in advance and are only valid for a specific connection. Supersparpreis prices for long-distance journeys start at €17.90 and Sparpreis at €21.90, but may climb close to the Flexpreis prices closer to departure and at busier dates and routes. Stopovers during travel are possible within a day and if the travel ends until 10:00 a.m. the next day, but then the long-distance trains to be used after the stopover must also be fixed in advance. Planned stopovers may sometimes help to circumvent times of day with higher occupancy and higher prices. Sparpreis tickets are partially reimbursible, but only against vouchers for the next travel.

Ticket prices generally rise degressively over distance, particularly for Sparpreise and Supersparpreise. Therefore, putting connecting local trains or excursions planned for the next morning on the same ticket is usually of advantage. Seat reservations are included only for first class tickets and seating capacity is not always assured, even for tickets valid on one particular connection only.

Local trains (S, RB, RE, IRE) also accept tickets issued by local transport associations, which can also be used on buses, trams, and U-Bahn trains.

DB offers concessionary fares with the BahnCard discount cards, which are available as BahnCard 25 (25% discount on Flexpreis and Sparpreis), BahnCard 50 (50% discount on Flexpreis and 25% discount on Sparpreis), and BahnCard 100 (unlimited travel on all Deutsche Bahn trains, a few private train companies and also in many local transport associations).

Other special tickets, such as the Länder-Tickets, which give unlimited journeys on local trains and in many transport associations within a state, and Interrail are also available. These Länder-Tickets offer group tickets, where up to five people can travel on a single ticket.[37]

Regular travellers usually use weekly, monthly or annual passes for their connection or region; day or sometimes weekend passes exist in local transport primarily.

The price system applies to some international destinations from Germany similarly, when bought at Deutsche Bahn, but it is often advisable to compare prices of the respective train operators involved.

Incidents edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Deutsche Bahn AG. "Annual Report 2022" (PDF). Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Global 500 2023". Fortune. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  3. ^ . Archived from the original on 25 October 2012.
  4. ^ . Deutsche Bahn. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009.
  5. ^ "Deutsche Banh Facts and Figures 2022" (PDF). Deutsche Bahn. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  6. ^ Railway Gazette International 11 August 2010
  7. ^ Arriva 27 August 2010
  8. ^ New Name for Arriva Deutschland Today's Railways Europe issue 185 May 2011 page 8
  9. ^ Countries Arriva
  10. ^ Canary Wharf investors bid for Arriva Coach & Bus Week issue 1399 25 June 2019 page 7
  11. ^ DB sells Arriva to One Square Capital International Railway Journal 19 October 2023
  12. ^ "Neue Bahngesellschaft InfraGo kann zu Jahresbeginn Arbeit aufnehmen". Handelsblatt (in German). 27 December 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  13. ^ Gernot Heller and Douglas Busvine (16 August 2018), German rail operator, Deutsche Telekom end Iran projects Reuters.
  14. ^ "Rail News - California high-speed rail agency selects German firm as early train operator. For Railroad Career Professionals". Progressiverailroading.com. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Deutsche Bahn: ic:kurier - Zustellung am gleichen Tag". www.bahn.de. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  16. ^ Macalister, Terry (28 June 2007). "Deutsche Bahn to run Queen's train". The Guardian.
  17. ^ Tickets - Timetable 7 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ . 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  19. ^ Mierzejewski, Alfred C. (30 March 2014). The Most Valuable Asset of the Reich: A History of the German National Railway, Volume 1, 1920-1932. UNC Press Books. ISBN 978-1-4696-2020-6.
  20. ^ "Vielfältige Informationen zu Eisenbahn, Verkehrsgeschichte und Technikgeschichte aus dem Zeitraum 1919 bis 1945. Epoche II". 8 April 2006. from the original on 8 April 2006. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  21. ^ . technikmuseum.berlin. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  22. ^ . DB Museum. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  23. ^ Paterson, Tony (2 April 2012). "German railway fears flood of lawsuits over Holocaust trains". The Independent. London. from the original on 7 May 2021. The German railway company Deutsche Bahn has engaged a New York law firm to fight off compensation claims that it might face under proposed legislation enabling Holocaust victims and their relatives to sue for damages in US courts. The state-owned network is the main successor to the Nazi-run Deutsche Reichsbahn which, along with other railways in German-occupied Europe, deported millions of Jews to death camps during the Second World War.
  24. ^ "Holocaust survivor launches legal claim against German railway". The Guardian. London. 30 July 2020. from the original on 31 July 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2021. The scale of the Holocaust was only possible due to the efficiency and scale of the German railways. In January 1943, the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, wrote to Albert Ganzenmüller, the secretary of state for transport and the deputy director of the Reichsbahn, pleading for more train stock. "If I have any hope of quickly dealing with matters, I must have more haulage trains. Help me to get more," he said. Ganzenmüller, an early member of the Nazi party, was the only member of the railway to go on trial. On his first day in court in 1973 he had a heart attack and was declared medically unfit. He died in 1996. After the war, the German Democratic Republic in East Germany took over the name of the Deutsche Reichsbahn for its railway system. Today's Deutsche Bahn was created in 1994 after German reunification and the East German railway's merger with the West German Deutsche Bundesbahn.
  25. ^ . Deutsche Bahn AG. 10 July 2008. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  26. ^ "Competition win for 3XN". World Architecture News. 21 December 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  27. ^ "Deutsche Bahn verwirft Pläne für Umzug". www.ftd.de. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  28. ^ Jürgens, Isabell (19 February 2020). ""Cube Berlin" – Europas schlauestes Gebäude geht in Betrieb". www.morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  29. ^ "Partial sale of DB agreed" Railway Gazette International May 2008 page 289
  30. ^ "DB flotation on hold" Railway Gazette International November 2008 page 843
  31. ^ One way tickets Thessaloniki – Auschwitz 8 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine, June 2015
  32. ^ Zug der Erinnerung/Thessaloniki Zug der Erinnerung (non-government organisation "Train of Commemoration").
  33. ^ Gwyn Topham; Helen Pidd; Pippa Crerar (4 June 2018). "Northern and GTR could be barred from rail franchises". The Guardian. London.
  34. ^ "Produktübersicht" on DB AG website
  35. ^ "S-Bahn (Germany)". ShowMeTheJourney. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  36. ^ Deutsche Bahn AG. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  37. ^ . Deutsche Bahn. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.

External links edit

  • Official website  
  • DB travel portal

deutsche, bahn, confused, with, deutsche, bank, bahn, this, article, contains, content, that, written, like, advertisement, please, help, improve, removing, promotional, content, inappropriate, external, links, adding, encyclopedic, content, written, from, neu. Not to be confused with Deutsche Bank or DB Bahn This article contains content that is written like an advertisement Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view March 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message The Deutsche Bahn AG IPA ˈdɔʏtʃe ˈbaːn abbreviated as DB or DB AG is the national railway company of Germany and a state owned enterprise under the control of the German government Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin it is a joint stock company AG and the largest railway company in the world 2 3 4 Deutsche Bahn AGCompany typeState owned enterprise Aktiengesellschaft IndustryRail transport LogisticsPredecessorsDeutsche Reichsbahn 1920 1949 Deutsche Bundesbahn Deutsche Reichsbahn 1949 1994 Founded1 January 1994 30 years ago 1994 01 01 HeadquartersBahntower Berlin GermanyArea servedEuropeKey peopleRichard Lutz de CEOProductsRail transport cargo transport servicesRevenue 56 3 billion 2022 1 52 Net income 227 million 2022 1 52 OwnerGovernment of Germany 100 Number of employees324 136 2022 Websitewww wbr deutschebahn wbr com Headquarters of Deutsche Bahn in the Bahntower at Potsdamer Platz Berlin Deutsche Bahn is the second largest transport company in Germany after the German postal and logistics company Deutsche Post DHL DB provides both long distance and regional transport serving around 132 million long distance passengers and 1 6 billion regional passengers in 2022 In 2022 DB transported 222 millions tons of cargo 5 The group is divided into several companies including DB Fernverkehr long distance passenger DB Regio local passenger services and DB Cargo rail freight The Group subsidiary DB Netz also operates large parts of the German railway infrastructure making it the largest rail network in Europe DB was founded after the merger between the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1994 after the unification of Germany and has been operating ever since The company generates about half of its total revenue from operating rail transport with the other half of the business comprising further transport and logistics businesses as well as various service providers The company generates further revenue through public transport contracts and support services for infrastructure maintenance and expansion Contents 1 Company profile 1 1 Personenverkehr 1 1 1 Arriva 1 1 2 DB Fernverkehr 1 1 3 DB Regio 1 2 Infrastructure 1 2 1 DB Netz DB InfraGO 1 2 2 DB Engineering amp Consulting 1 3 Logistics 1 4 Foreign firms 1 5 Key persons 1 5 1 Management board 1 5 2 Supervisory board 2 History 2 1 Background the Deutsche Reichsbahn 2 2 1999 to present 2 3 Logo 3 Structure and subsidiaries 4 Train categories 5 Codeshare agreements 6 Tickets 7 Incidents 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksCompany profile editThe Deutsche Bahn Group is divided into various organizational units that perform their tasks with subsidiaries Personenverkehr edit DB Personenverkehr is the unit that manages passenger travel within Germany Originally called Reise amp Touristik English Travel and Tourism this group is responsible for the managing servicing and running of German passenger services This group is divided into three business areas DB Fernverkehr DB Regio and Arriva Arriva edit nbsp Arriva North West Wright Eclipse Gemini bodied Volvo B7TL in Liverpool Deutsche Bahn purchased Arriva in August 2010 off the London Stock Exchange 6 7 To satisfy the European Commission Arriva s German operations were rebranded Netinera and sold 8 As of July 2022 Arriva operated 15 700 buses and 800 railway vehicles in 14 European countries mainly in the United Kingdom and Ireland 9 In 2019 Deutsche Bahn unsuccessfully tried to sell the business 10 In October 2023 Deutsche Bahn agreed on terms to sell Arriva to I Squared Capital with the transaction scheduled to be completed in 2024 11 DB Fernverkehr edit Main article DB Fernverkehr nbsp A Siemens ICE 3 long distance high speed train of DB FernverkehrDB Fernverkehr AG is a semi independent division of Deutsche Bahn that operates long distance passenger trains in Germany It was founded in 1999 in the second stage of the privatisation of German Federal Railways under the name of DB Reise amp Touristik and renamed in 2003 nbsp An IC2 Bombardier Twindexx Doppelstock long distance Intercity Train also from DB Fernverkehr at Koln Hbf DB Fernverkehr operates all Intercity Express and Intercity trains in Germany as well as in some neighboring countries and several EuroCity and EuroCityExpress trains throughout Europe Unlike its sister companies DB Regio and DB Cargo DB Fernverkehr still holds a de facto monopoly in its segment of the market as it operates hundreds of trains per day while all competitors long distance services combined amount to no more than 10 15 trains per day Additionally DB Fernverkehr operated a few long distance coach services throughout Germany called IC Bus DB Regio edit Main article DB Regio nbsp A Bombardier Talent 2 regional train of DB Regio in BavariaDB Regio AG is the subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn that operates passenger trains on short and medium distances in Germany Unlike its long distance counterpart DB Fernverkehr it does not operate trains on its own account Traffic is ordered and paid for by the Bundeslander states or their respective SPNV Aufgabentrager Regional train operation supervisors Some states have awarded long term contracts to DB Regio usually 10 to 15 years in others DB Regio s operations are decreasing in North Rhine Westphalia their market share is expected to be lower than 50 DB Regio rail services are divided into several regional companies DB Regio Nord for Schleswig Holstein Hamburg Lower Saxony Bremen DB Regio Nordost for Berlin Brandenburg Mecklenburg Vorpommern DB Regio NRW for North Rhine Westphalia DB Regio Sudost for Saxony Saxony Anhalt Thuringia DB Regio Mitte for Rhineland Palatinate Saarland Hesse and parts of Baden Wurttemberg DB Regio Baden Wurttemberg for the rest of Baden Wurttemberg DB Regio Bayern for Bavaria S Bahn Hamburg S Bahn Berlin RegioNetz small independent networks like Erzgebirgsbahn Gaubodenbahn Kurhessenbahn Oberweissbacher Bergbahn Sudostbayernbahn Westfrankenbahn for easier organisation The bus services consist of 25 bus companies which have subsidiary companies themselves Infrastructure edit DB Netz DB InfraGO edit The infrastructure division was divided into the DB Netz rail infrastructure DB Station amp Service stations and services and DB Energie Energy business units At the end of December 2023 DB Netz merged with DB Station amp Service to create DB InfraGO AG The new company is intended to reduce poor communication between the two previously separate infrastructure firms and to be more oriented towards the common good In fact that is what the GO in InfraGO stands for in German Gemeinwohlorientierte 12 DB Engineering amp Consulting edit nbsp Jonas Deichmann training in Deutsche Bahn s climate chamber DB Engineering amp Consulting which is responsible for construction supervision construction planning and maintenance is also assigned to this department without being part of a business area Via its subsidiary DB Engineering amp Consulting DB signed a memorandum of understanding with Iranian rail operator Bonyad Eastern Railways BonRail in May 2017 and shortly after a consulting contract with Islamic Republic of Iran Railways both projects were abandoned after the United States imposed new sanctions against Iran and said firms doing business with Iran would be barred from doing business with the United States 13 The California High Speed Rail Authority s CHSRA board approved on 15 November 2017 an early train operator contract with DB Engineering amp Consulting USA 14 The firm is the U S arm of Deutsche Bahn AG As early train operator DB Engineering amp Consulting will assist CHSRA with planning designing and implementing the state s high speed rail program In Germany DB E amp C acts as a planning office and in construction supervision for Deutsche Bahn construction sites Logistics edit nbsp Freight train from DB Cargo in Germany The Transport and Logistics division acted in the market with the business units DB Schenker Logistics and DB Schenker Rail which were combined under the umbrella of DB Schenker and the Intermodal division which operates in combined transport In 2016 rail freight transport was separated from logistics and DB Schenker Rail was renamed DB Cargo In cooperation with the logistics provider time matters DB offers the transport of shipments weighing up to 20 kg on its EC IC ICE trains 15 Foreign firms edit nbsp DB Schenker Rail UK Class 67 hauling Chiltern Railways Mark 3 carriages at Leamington Spa on the Chiltern Main LineDB also has interests abroad owning the United Kingdom s largest rail freight operator DB Cargo UK which also operates the British Royal Train 16 and also has interests in Eastern Europe It is possible to obtain train times for any journey in Europe from Deutsche Bahn s website 17 Trans Eurasia Logistics is a joint venture with Russian Railways RZD that operates container freight trains between Germany and China via Russia Key persons edit nbsp Richard Lutz CEO of the DB Group Management board edit Richard Lutz CEO Chairman of the management board since 2017 Levin Holle Member of the management board for Finance and Logistics CFO Daniela Gerd tom Markotten Member of the management board for Digitalization and Technology Berthold Huber Member of the management board for Infrastructure Sigrid Nikutta Member of the management board for Freight Transport Martin Seiler Member of the management board for Human Resources and Legal Affairs Evelyn Palla Member of the management board for Regional Transport Michael Peterson Member of the management board for Long Distance Passenger Transport Supervisory board edit Michael Odenwald chairman of the supervisory board History editSee also History of rail transport in Germany Background the Deutsche Reichsbahn edit Main article Deutsche Reichsbahn The railway network in Germany dates back to 1835 when the first tracks were laid on a 6 km 3 7 mi route between Nuremberg and Furth The Deutsche Reichsbahn operated from 1920 18 through the Weimar and Nazi eras until 1949 19 when it was split between East and West Germany into two successor entities Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn respectively 20 They remained separate throughout the Cold War era division of Germany and rejoined after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification in 1990 On 1 January 1994 Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn were merged to form one company Deutsche Bahn the successor organisation to the Reichsbahn 21 22 23 24 At the same time Deutsche Bahn adopted its current logo and DB abbreviation Kurt Weidemann modernised the logo and typographer Erik Spiekermann designed a new corporate font known as DB Type When Deutsche Bahn was formed in January 1994 it became a joint stock company and was designed to operate the railways of both the former East and West Germany after unification in October 1990 as a single uniform and private company 25 There are three main periods of development in this unified German railway its formation its early years 1994 1999 and the period from 1999 to the present Originally DBAG had its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main but moved to Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin in 1996 where it occupies a 26 storey office tower designed by Helmut Jahn at the eastern end of the Sony Center and named Bahntower As the lease was to expire in 2010 DB had announced plans to relocate to Berlin Hauptbahnhof and in 2007 a proposal for a new headquarters by 3XN Architects won an architectural competition which also included Foster Partners Dominique Perrault and Auer Weber 26 However these plans were put on hold due to the financial crisis of 2008 and the Bahntower lease was extended 27 Construction of the new headquarters building was started in 2017 under the title Cube Berlin according to the designs by 3XN Finished in February 2020 the Cube will house the legal offices of Deutsche Bahn but not become the main headquarters 28 1999 to present edit The second step of the Bahnreform railway reform was carried out in 1999 All rolling stock track personnel and real assets were divided between the subsidiaries of DBAG DB Reise amp Touristik AG long distance passenger service later renamed DB Station amp Service AG operating the stations This new organisational scheme was introduced not least to implement European Community directive 91 440 EEC that requires open access operations on railway lines by companies other than those that own the rail infrastructure In December 2007 DB reorganised again bringing all passenger services into its DB Bahn arm logistics under DB Schenker and infrastructure and operations under DB Netze The DB is owned by the Federal Republic By the Constitution the Federal Republic is required to retain directly or indirectly a majority of the infrastructure the present DB Netze stocks In 2008 it was agreed to float a portion of the business meaning an end to the 100 share the German Federal Republic had in it with a plan that 25 of the overall share would be sold to the private sector 29 However the onset of the financial crisis of 2007 08 saw this cancelled 30 In 2014 the Jewish community of Thessaloniki demanded that the Deutsche Bahn which is the successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn should reimburse the heirs of Greek Holocaust victims of Thessaloniki for train fares that they were forced to pay for their deportation from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz and Treblinka between March and August 1943 31 32 In June 2018 controversy grew in the United Kingdom over widespread cancellations of railway services and numerous delayed services operated by Deutsche Bahn in Britain under its Northern brand This resulted in Britain s Minister of Transport Chris Grayling setting up an enquiry into whether the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary had breached its contractual agreement to provide railway services in the north of England He warned that if the company was found to be in breach of its contractual agreements it could be banned from running railway services in the United Kingdom 33 Logo edit nbsp 1 April 1920 to 26 April 1945 operating as Deutsche Reichsbahn nbsp 30 August 1924 to 31 December 1993 operating as Deutsche Reichsbahn This mark was used in tandem with the previous logo until April 1945 nbsp 10 October 1946 to 31 December 1993 operating as Deutsche Bundesbahn nbsp Current logo in use since 1 January 1994 operating as Deutsche BahnStructure and subsidiaries editDB Fernverkehr DB Regio DB CargoTrain categories editTrains in Germany are classified by their stopping pattern 34 Fernverkehr long distance trains also Fernzug ICE Intercity Express for high speed long distance train services between major cities and regions Certain routes also cross European borders into the Netherlands Belgium France Switzerland and Austria EC EuroCity for intercity trains that cross borders and connect Germany with other countries Can also be operated by foreign State Railways IC InterCity for long distance semi high speed services that connect regions and cities IC services are slightly lower in class than ICE services with trains reaching lower speeds average around 160 220 km h with more frequent stops On some IC routes the trains use legacy railway lines instead of the high speed lines the ICE takes International IC services are usually operated as EuroCity Just as ICE EC and few IC cross European borders train categories of other operators cross into Germany and are operated in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn ECE EuroCity Express for international high speed rail services Currently only one route from Frankfurt to Milan TGV from France to Frankfurt and Munich via Stuttgart RJ Railjet from Austria to Munich and Frankfurt as well as to Berlin Nahverkehr local trains IRE Interregio Express are longer distance RE trains that connect regions and cities On most routes they serve as slower IC trains IRE trains only exist in Baden Wurttemberg and on the Hamburg Berlin route RE Regional Express serve regions and connects cities and do not stop at every station on the route RB Regionalbahn stop at all stations on the route except where S Bahn is available and are often the most basic train service available S S Bahn is a type of rapid transit for larger cities and stop at all stations S Bahn operate high frequency services and are usually characterised by crossing through the city centre with dense station spacing 35 Train categories no longer used include MET Metropolitan was a luxury train service between Hamburg and Cologne The two special MET train sets are now used for IC and ICE services and does still have a comfort level above the regular IC and ICE coaches IR InterRegio set between RE and IC was meant to connect cities and regions at a lower price but also be used for local traffic Replaced partly by IC RE and IRE SE Stadt Express operated as a mixture of RE and RB trains skipped many stations in urban areas but made all stops in the countryside Rebranded as RE and RB In some regions such as Rhine Main Frankfurt Rhein Main Verkehrsverbund the local transit authority advertised trains as SE Internally DB classified them as either RE or RB but even DB trains display SE on their destination boards This ceased in December 2016 In the early days of DBAG the most basic train categories which were in use since the early days of rail travel in Germany were also used D D Zug or Schnellzug abbreviated from Durchgangszug was the express train category and used to be the highest train category It was replaced by IC and the even faster ICE The trains of the SyltShuttle plus car shuttle service connecting the island of Sylt with the mainland are still officially referred to as D trains E Eilzug was the semi fast service offering faster journeys than normal passenger trains but not at such long distances and speed as D trains though there were some quite long running E trains No direct successor would be located between RE and IC N Nahverkehrszug the most basic form of train service stopping at all stations When all local train services were vertaktet i e operating at a fixed interval mostly one train per hour they were rebranded as RB There are several other operators in Germany which sometimes offer other categories also a local transport authority or tariff associations might brand the trains in a different way than DB does For example in the Nuremberg region RE and RB trains are not differentiated but called R instead In some regions such as Verkehrsverbund Berlin Brandenburg private operators do use the RE and RB labels in others such as Saxony they do not In online and print information systems of DB private trains officially labelled RB and RE by their operators might get a different label for example ABR for trains operated by Abellio though on platforms trains and maps or timetables issued by the local transport authority overseeing regional train services these abbreviations usually do not appear Codeshare agreements editIn conjunction with Emirates China Airlines TAM Airlines Turkish Airlines Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Lufthansa Deutsche Bahn operates the AIRail Service between Frankfurt Airport and Koln Hauptbahnhof Bonn Hauptbahnhof Dusseldorf Freiburg Hamburg Hanover Mannheim Munich Nuremberg and Stuttgart Deutsche Bahn has the IATA designator 2A 36 Tickets editDB offers two different pricing models for single or return tickets for routes that include long distance trains The Flexpreis originally Normalpreis gives full flexibility i e all trains on the given date can be used on the chosen route This price is independent of the time of purchase for a given route and tickets are reimbursable prior to the day of departure The Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis are generally cheaper tickets that must be purchased in advance and are only valid for a specific connection Supersparpreis prices for long distance journeys start at 17 90 and Sparpreis at 21 90 but may climb close to the Flexpreis prices closer to departure and at busier dates and routes Stopovers during travel are possible within a day and if the travel ends until 10 00 a m the next day but then the long distance trains to be used after the stopover must also be fixed in advance Planned stopovers may sometimes help to circumvent times of day with higher occupancy and higher prices Sparpreis tickets are partially reimbursible but only against vouchers for the next travel Ticket prices generally rise degressively over distance particularly for Sparpreise and Supersparpreise Therefore putting connecting local trains or excursions planned for the next morning on the same ticket is usually of advantage Seat reservations are included only for first class tickets and seating capacity is not always assured even for tickets valid on one particular connection only Local trains S RB RE IRE also accept tickets issued by local transport associations which can also be used on buses trams and U Bahn trains DB offers concessionary fares with the BahnCard discount cards which are available as BahnCard 25 25 discount on Flexpreis and Sparpreis BahnCard 50 50 discount on Flexpreis and 25 discount on Sparpreis and BahnCard 100 unlimited travel on all Deutsche Bahn trains a few private train companies and also in many local transport associations Other special tickets such as the Lander Tickets which give unlimited journeys on local trains and in many transport associations within a state and Interrail are also available These Lander Tickets offer group tickets where up to five people can travel on a single ticket 37 Regular travellers usually use weekly monthly or annual passes for their connection or region day or sometimes weekend passes exist in local transport primarily The price system applies to some international destinations from Germany similarly when bought at Deutsche Bahn but it is often advisable to compare prices of the respective train operators involved Incidents editBad Aibling rail accident Bruhl train derailment Eschede train disaster Garmisch Partenkirchen train derailment Hordorf train collision 2012 Stuttgart derailmentsSee also editDB Fernverkehr DB Regio DB Cargo Rail transport in Germany Railway electrification system Transport in GermanyReferences edit a b Deutsche Bahn AG Annual Report 2022 PDF Retrieved 9 May 2023 Global 500 2023 Fortune Retrieved 24 December 2023 Members to the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn AG Archived from the original on 25 October 2012 Deutsche Bahn AG at a glance Deutsche Bahn Archived from the original on 26 April 2009 Deutsche Banh Facts and Figures 2022 PDF Deutsche Bahn 27 July 2022 Retrieved 17 December 2023 EC approves DB s takeover of Arriva Railway Gazette International 11 August 2010 Scheme of arrangement becomes effective Arriva 27 August 2010 New Name for Arriva Deutschland Today s Railways Europe issue 185 May 2011 page 8 Countries Arriva Canary Wharf investors bid for Arriva Coach amp Bus Week issue 1399 25 June 2019 page 7 DB sells Arriva to One Square Capital International Railway Journal 19 October 2023 Neue Bahngesellschaft InfraGo kann zu Jahresbeginn Arbeit aufnehmen Handelsblatt in German 27 December 2023 Retrieved 30 January 2024 Gernot Heller and Douglas Busvine 16 August 2018 German rail operator Deutsche Telekom end Iran projects Reuters Rail News California high speed rail agency selects German firm as early train operator For Railroad Career Professionals Progressiverailroading com Retrieved 8 March 2022 Deutsche Bahn ic kurier Zustellung am gleichen Tag www bahn de Retrieved 1 February 2022 Macalister Terry 28 June 2007 Deutsche Bahn to run Queen s train The Guardian Tickets Timetable Archived 7 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine Verordnung zur Schaffung eines Unternehmens Deutsche Reichsbahn 16 February 2012 Archived from the original on 16 February 2012 Retrieved 7 May 2021 Mierzejewski Alfred C 30 March 2014 The Most Valuable Asset of the Reich A History of the German National Railway Volume 1 1920 1932 UNC Press Books ISBN 978 1 4696 2020 6 Vielfaltige Informationen zu Eisenbahn Verkehrsgeschichte und Technikgeschichte aus dem Zeitraum 1919 bis 1945 Epoche II 8 April 2006 Archived from the original on 8 April 2006 Retrieved 7 May 2021 Neckties from the GDR s Deutsche Reichsbahn and the Deutsche Bahn AG 1993 1994 technikmuseum berlin Archived from the original on 9 November 2022 Retrieved 7 May 2021 Im Dienst von Demokratie und Diktatur DB Museum Archived from the original on 10 April 2021 Retrieved 7 May 2021 Paterson Tony 2 April 2012 German railway fears flood of lawsuits over Holocaust trains The Independent London Archived from the original on 7 May 2021 The German railway company Deutsche Bahn has engaged a New York law firm to fight off compensation claims that it might face under proposed legislation enabling Holocaust victims and their relatives to sue for damages in US courts The state owned network is the main successor to the Nazi run Deutsche Reichsbahn which along with other railways in German occupied Europe deported millions of Jews to death camps during the Second World War Holocaust survivor launches legal claim against German railway The Guardian London 30 July 2020 Archived from the original on 31 July 2020 Retrieved 7 May 2021 The scale of the Holocaust was only possible due to the efficiency and scale of the German railways In January 1943 the head of the SS Heinrich Himmler wrote to Albert Ganzenmuller the secretary of state for transport and the deputy director of the Reichsbahn pleading for more train stock If I have any hope of quickly dealing with matters I must have more haulage trains Help me to get more he said Ganzenmuller an early member of the Nazi party was the only member of the railway to go on trial On his first day in court in 1973 he had a heart attack and was declared medically unfit He died in 1996 After the war the German Democratic Republic in East Germany took over the name of the Deutsche Reichsbahn for its railway system Today s Deutsche Bahn was created in 1994 after German reunification and the East German railway s merger with the West German Deutsche Bundesbahn The foundation of Deutsche Bahn AG Deutsche Bahn AG 10 July 2008 Archived from the original on 27 December 2008 Retrieved 15 December 2022 Competition win for 3XN World Architecture News 21 December 2007 Retrieved 30 October 2009 Deutsche Bahn verwirft Plane fur Umzug www ftd de Archived from the original on 6 February 2013 Retrieved 27 January 2022 Jurgens Isabell 19 February 2020 Cube Berlin Europas schlauestes Gebaude geht in Betrieb www morgenpost de in German Retrieved 7 June 2020 Partial sale of DB agreed Railway Gazette International May 2008 page 289 DB flotation on hold Railway Gazette International November 2008 page 843 One way tickets Thessaloniki Auschwitz Archived 8 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine June 2015 Zug der Erinnerung Thessaloniki Zug der Erinnerung non government organisation Train of Commemoration Gwyn Topham Helen Pidd Pippa Crerar 4 June 2018 Northern and GTR could be barred from rail franchises The Guardian London Produktubersicht on DB AG website S Bahn Germany ShowMeTheJourney Retrieved 20 December 2022 Deutsche Bahn AG DB Mobility Logistics Facts and figures 2012 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 16 June 2013 Retrieved 7 July 2013 Regional Tickets Deutsche Bahn Archived from the original on 21 January 2020 Retrieved 24 February 2020 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deutsche Bahn Official website nbsp DB Corporate Home Page DB travel portal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Deutsche Bahn amp oldid 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