Latest news with #RichardLutz
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
Attacks on Deutsche Bahn staff rise 6% in 2024, chief executive says
Attacks on employees of Germany's Deutsche Bahn railway rose by around 6% in 2024, the transport company's chief executive said on Friday. "In the last year, there were around 3,300 physical assaults, around 6% more than in the previous year," Richard Lutz told news portal t-online. "Every form of violence against employees is completely unacceptable." Around half of the attacks were against train employees in regional services, Lutz said. Other targets included cleaning staff, customer service employees and bus drivers. "We are unfortunately a mirror of societal developments," said Lutz. Deutsche Bahn is increasingly offering employees in regular contact with passengers body cameras. "These devices have proven themselves for security services and train personnel," Lutz said. Staff are also receiving de-escalation training, while trains are also being equipped with emergency alarms to call for help at short notice. The rise in attacks came on a busy year for Deutsche Bahn, which struggled to deliver services on time during the summer's football European Championships.
Local Germany
29-03-2025
- Business
- Local Germany
Inside Germany: Clock debates, controversial hedges and the sorrows of Deutsche Bahn
Inside Germany is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in Germany that you might've missed. It's published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article. Will the next government tackle Germany's rail crisis? "The greatest crisis in 30 years..." That was how Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz described the state of Germany's railways on Thursday . Lutz was presenting the company's latest set of dire figures to reporters, from the €1.8 billion of losses in 2024 to anaemic sales and total debts of €32 billion. In news that's unlikely to surprise many rail passengers, Deutsche Bahn also hit a new low in punctuality last year, with just 62.5 percent of trains arriving on time. "We are far from meeting our customers' expectations," Lutz said, perfecting the art of understatement. The endless sorrows of the national rail service are well known to anyone who lives in Germany. More recently, though, the reputation of Deutsche Bahn has even started to spill across borders. In a recent article , The Local France editor Emma Pearson shared her tips for staying sane while travelling on DB's "direct" Berlin to Paris service. In it, she cautioned readers to be stoic and expect the unexpected. So, as Germany gears up to usher in a new government, will the next 'Grand Coalition' be able to finally get to grips with the railways? On first glance, the noises sound positive - but, much like a cross-country trip on DB Regio, it won't be an easy journey. According to the latest leaked plans, the CDU/CSU and SPD want to embark on a "fundamental rail reform", clearing out old management and pouring in massive investments. As part of a €500 billion infrastructure fund, tens of billions would be used to spruce up the creaking railways and modernise the busiest routes. According to Lutz, at least €150 billion will be needed to get the job done. And, given how long some of these projects can take, several more years of delays may be on the cards. Luckily, though, the government is also promising to keep the Deutschlandticket , so you can still travel to your destination on a budget - provided you're not too concerned with getting there on time. Advertisement Tweet of the week Some of us may have made the mistake of deciding to do a spot of cleaning DIY on a Sunday, forgetting about Germany's sacred Ruhetag (quiet day) rules. If your German neighbours have anything to do with it, it's not a mistake you'll make twice. When it's Sunday, and it's Germany, and you want to watch the world burn. — Nic Houghton (@40PercentGerman) March 23, 2025 Where is this? Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jan Woitas This atmospheric scene shows the MS Cospuden moored on Leipzig's Cospudener See on Thursday evening during a cosy book reading. Parallel to the Leipzig Book Fair, which runs until Sunday, more than 3,000 events are taking place at 350 different locations throughout the city for the 'Leipzig reads' reading festival - including atop the city's lakes. Advertisement Clocks go forward... again It's that time of year again. On March 30th, the clocks go forward and politicians go back to a years-long debate about when (if ever) the practice will be scrapped for good. The European Union has been eyeing an end to Daylight Saving Time since 2018 , when a public consultation revealed that millions were in favour. For the past seven years, however, the bloc has been stuck in limbo amid disagreements on how to go about it. This year Poland is in charge of the rotating EU presidency and wants to put the question of the clocks back on the agenda. Proponents of the change are pushing for a target date to end the changing of the clocks in order to speed up the process. If they're successful, it's possible the bloc could be gearing up to finally call time on the century-old practice. For now, though, we're still set to wake up one hour later on Sunday morning (or lose one hour of sleep, depending on how you think about it) - and gain an hour of sunlight in the evening. Advertisement When is a hedge too high? If you've lived in Germany for a while, you've probably realised that there are some very strict rules governing neighbourly behaviour. From grilling on your balcony to how often your guinea pigs have sex, every question imaginable can end up in the German courts . Most recently, the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe was asked to rule on a highly philosophical question: when is a hedge a hedge, and how high can it be? The question was prompted by a recent dispute in Frankfurt between two neighbours. The plaintiff had demanded that his neighbour cut back her six-metre bamboo hedge, while the neighbour refused to do so. After much back and forth, the verdict was clear: there is no legal height limit for a hedge in Germany. That said, you do have to make sure it's far enough from your neighbour's property - and don't forget to trim it at the specified times of year .
Iraqi News
27-03-2025
- Business
- Iraqi News
Crisis-hit German rail operator reports another massive loss
Frankfurt – German rail operator Deutsche Bahn reported another massive annual loss Thursday as it battles a 'serious crisis' but said government plans to ramp up infrastructure spending could get it back on track. Years of chronic underinvestment have left the train network in Europe's biggest economy in a sorry state, with passengers frequently complaining of long delays, cancelled trains and poor service. State-owned Deutsche Bahn booked a net loss in 2024 of 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion), although this marked an improvement from a loss of 2.7 billion euros the previous year, while sales were flat. It shed some debt but the figure was still a hefty 32 billion euros. 'Deutsche Bahn is facing its most serious crisis' since major railway reforms of the mid-1990s, said CEO Richard Lutz. 'We are far from achieving our goals and far from meeting our customers' expectations in key areas.' The 'poor condition' of infrastructure weighed heavily, as did strikes by train drivers at the start of the year and the weakness of the German economy, which has been in recession for the past two years, the operator said. Train delays — a constant gripe of German rail passengers — also become more even more frequent in 2024, with just 62.5 percent of long-distance services arriving on time. The task ahead is colossal, with around 150 billion euros needed for improvements to the existing network as well as new projects, Deutsche Bahn said. But Lutz insisted that a turnaround was underway, pointing to huge investments in infrastructure last year and an ongoing restructuring plan, which will involve thousands of job cuts. He also hailed a plan to establish a 500-billion-euro fund to overhaul Germany's creaking infrastructure, which was pushed by chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz and voted through parliament last week. The fund, to be spent over 12 years, is 'part of the solution' as it provided 'economic security' for the rail industry, he told a press conference. 'We can send the signal to the railway and construction industry to build additional resources now, invest in additional machines, and also in additional people.' The outlook for this year was already rosier than 2024, the operator insisted, forecasting an increase in sales, a positive operating profit and a fall in debts.
Local Germany
27-03-2025
- Business
- Local Germany
Crisis-hit German rail operator reports another massive loss
Years of chronic underinvestment have left the train network in Europe's biggest economy in a sorry state, with passengers frequently complaining of long delays, cancelled trains and poor service. State-owned Deutsche Bahn booked a net loss in 2024 of €1.8 billion, although this marked an improvement from a loss of €2.7 billion the previous year, while sales were flat. It shed some debt but is still saddled with a hefty €32 billion, which has built up over the years. "Deutsche Bahn is facing its most serious crisis" since major railway reforms of the mid-1990s, said CEO Richard Lutz. "We are far from achieving our goals and far from meeting our customers' expectations in key areas." The "poor condition" of infrastructure weighed heavily, as did strikes by train drivers at the start of the year and the weakness of the German economy, which has been in recession for the past two years, the operator said. Train delays -- a constant gripe of German rail passengers -- also become more even more frequent in 2024, with just 62.5 percent of long-distance services arriving on time. READ ALSO: Deutsche Bahn pays out compensation to millions of rail passengers in Germany The task ahead is colossal, with around €150 billion needed for improvements to the existing network as well as new projects, Deutsche Bahn said. But Lutz insisted that a turnaround was underway, pointing to huge investments in infrastructure last year and an ongoing restructuring plan, which will involve thousands of job cuts. Advertisement He also hailed a plan to establish a €500 billion fund to overhaul Germany's creaking infrastructure, which was pushed by chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz and voted through parliament last week. The fund, to be spent over 12 years, is "part of the solution" as it provided "economic security" for the rail industry, he told a press conference. READ ALSO: What's in Germany's giant spending package? "We can send the signal to the railway and construction industry to build additional resources now, invest in additional machines, and also in additional people." The outlook for this year was already rosier than 2024, the operator insisted, forecasting an increase in sales, a positive operating profit and a fall in debts. Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn, takes part in a presentation of ICE-4 trains in Cottbus. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Patrick Pleul Plans to reform the railways The centre-right CDU and CSU, which came top in Germany's February elections, are currently thrashing out a coalition agreement with the centre-left SPD with the aim of forming a government by Easter. Most recently, a working group tasked with looking at transport and infrastructure pitched a number of reform proposals to party leaders. READ ALSO: What will Germany's likely new government do about the Deutschlandticket ? According to the paper, which was obtained by Handelsblatt, the parties want to push ahead with major infrastructure investments over the coming years, including the refurbishment of 41 high-performance corridors that was intiated by the previous government. Advertisement This would be financed by a special rail infrastructure fund, drawn from the €500 billion financial package. According to the draft, the government wants to reform the railways to improve the quality of rail transport, ensure government money is going to the right places, and secure jobs in the long-term. However, Lutz's job could well be for the chop as the parties set out plans to restaff top management at Deutsche Bahn. With reporting by Imogen Goodman
Reuters
27-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn aims to return to profit this year
BERLIN, March 27 (Reuters) - German rail operator Deutsche Bahn ( aims to make an operating profit this year as cost cuts and infrastructure investment start to pay off, the company said on Thursday after posting heavy losses in 2024. Following more than a decade of under-investment, state-owned Deutsche Bahn has started upgrading its tracks, crossings and overhead lines and cutting administrative costs, a process that has caused major delays and cancellations across the country. CEO Richard Lutz said while the turnaround had started, much still had to be done to pull Deutsche Bahn out of crisis. "We are a long way from where we want to be and what our customers expect from us in key areas," said Lutz. The company expects an operating profit this year and an increase in revenues to more than 27 billion euros ($29.08 billion), although forecasts depend on an uncertain geopolitical situation and the inflow of federal funds for infrastructure maintenance, it said. As reported by Reuters earlier this month, Deutsche Bahn made an operating loss of 333 million euros in 2024, narrower than the previous year thanks to state payments for infrastructure maintenance. Revenues were roughly stable last year at 26.2 billion euros and it posted a net loss of almost 1.8 billion euros. ($1 = 0.9283 euros)
