Lead

Deutsche Bahn has returned to profit in its core rail business for the first time in seven years, the state-owned company said Thursday, confirming earlier media reports. The rail operator reported a net profit of €147 million (about $169 million) in the first half of 2026, compared with a loss of €760 million during the same period last year.

Operating profit improved by €650 million to €415 million. "For the first time in seven years, our rail business is back in the black," Deutsche Bahn chief executive Evelyn Palla said in a statement. However, Palla said she would only be satisfied "when the quality of day-to-day rail services is also up to scratch."

Coverage Comparison

The return to profit was first reported by the Bild newspaper and Der Spiegel news magazine Wednesday night, according to Deutsche Welle. The reports said the railway carried around 960 million passengers during the first six months of 2026, a record, and 17 million more than in the same period last year. The company was initially unavailable for comment.

Deutsche Bahn later confirmed the figures. Rising passenger numbers also helped increase revenue by almost 2% to €13.6 billion, as people boarded trains rather than drive amid high gas prices spurred by the war in the Middle East.

In a separate interview published Sunday, Palla criticized the old decision-making process in DB, saying that the central management often made big decisions on the operative level. "The people in the headquarters, who made those decisions, don't have any responsibility for implementing them in the field," Palla said. "They have to be implemented by colleagues who are out there. But they say 'I didn't make this call, and it also doesn't work for me.' Then the headquarters says 'I have no operational responsibility, those people in the field did not implement [the decision] properly.' In the end it was something like organized irresponsibility."

Key Claims

  • Deutsche Bahn recorded a net profit of €147 million in the first half of 2026, compared with a loss of €760 million in the same period last year.
  • The company recorded a net loss of more than €1 billion in 2025.
  • Just 58.7% of Germany's long-distance trains arrived on time at their destination in the first half of the year.
  • Deutsche Bahn attributed the improved results to its ongoing restructuring program, which includes cost-cutting measures and job reductions among senior management and internal service providers.
  • The company has struggled in recent years with poor punctuality, deteriorating infrastructure, and heavy financial losses.
  • Palla said the current crisis will take years to overcome. She pointed to DB's 200-year anniversary coming in 2035, saying that "this should be the year when the worst is behind us."

Perspectives

Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla

Palla acknowledged the profit but stressed that she would only be satisfied when the quality of day-to-day rail services improves. She criticized the company's old decision-making process as "organized irresponsibility," saying that headquarters often made decisions without responsibility for implementation. She said much has been "reformed" and "slimmed down" since she took office last October, with multiple administration levels cut, but that "all of that does not make for a better (Deutsche) Bahn." She also said the German railway network was "run into the ground by 25 years of saving money" and that tangible improvements will take time.