In the first half of 2026, Deutsche Bahn (DB) posted a profit in the low hundreds of millions of euros – after a loss of around 760 million euros in the same period last year. This was reported by Zeit, citing advance reports from Bild and Spiegel ahead of the official release of the half-year figures on Thursday. DB CEO Evelyn Palla will present the results then.
Alongside the profit, DB set a passenger record: around 960 million passengers used its trains, 17 million more than in the first half of 2025. This is the highest figure since the coronavirus pandemic. The main reason for the increase is high fuel prices, which prompted many commuters to switch to rail. Discount offers also contributed: around 600,000 passengers bought last-minute tickets, about 200,000 used the family ticket, and the free Youth BahnCard 25 was ordered around 50,000 times.
Despite the positive figures, punctuality in long-distance services remains poor: in June it stood at just 52.6 percent, affected by a heatwave. DB CEO Evelyn Palla had already pointed to a “trend reversal” in March, but also stressed that construction sites and restrictions continue to burden long-distance services. It will take at least ten years to get the rail network back into good condition.
Palla has initiated a comprehensive corporate restructuring focused on decentralization, cost-cutting, and a rehabilitation program for long-distance services. The trend reversal has been initiated, but according to her own statement, the destination station is still far off.
Source: www.zeit.de
