German rail operator Deutsche Bahn posted a loss of €2.4 billion for 2023, up from a €227 million deficit in 2022, following a year of disruptive strikes, significant infrastructure investment and rising costs.
Passenger numbers increased by 5.8 per cent year on year, to 1.8 billion, but revenue of €45.2 billion was down 13 per cent compared to 2022. DB closed the year with adjusted EBIT of -€964 million compared with €1.225 billion in the previous year.
In addition to a significant increase in interest paid, which was driven in part by higher borrowing for capital expenditures, DB's results were also affected by "the additional burdens of inflation-related cost increases, a sharp rise in personnel expenses and multiple strikes," the operator noted in its annual results announcement published on Thursday (21 March).
Earlier this week a spokesperson for the company indicated that an agreement with the GDL train drivers union over wages could soon be reached following six rounds of strikes, the latest of which occurred earlier this month. In January, DB train drivers went on strike for almost a week in its escalating dispute over pay, hours and working conditions.
"In 2023, we made upfront expenditures and did more construction than ever before because we cannot delay overhauling and modernising our infrastructure," said the operator's CEO Dr. Richard Lutz.
"But 2023 also marks a turning point: together with the German government, we launched the largest and most comprehensive capital expenditure programme since the German Rail Reform in 1994. No more running our rail infrastructure into the ground – it's time to overhaul and modernise it from top to bottom.
"Thanks to the major increase in budgetary funding from the German government, we are able to make additional expenditures of roughly €30 billion. We are continuing to press ahead with implementing our Strong Rail strategy. Achieving Germany's climate and transport policy objectives and shifting more traffic to environmentally friendly rail will simply not be possible without high-performance infrastructure."
Upgrades to around 40 heavily used routes in the DB network will be fundamental to providing more stability and quality, said the operator, with investment in extended platforms, track and digital signalling technology. By 2030, Germany will have a 'high-performance' network more than 9,000km long.