Interview with Evelyn Palla, Chairwoman of the Management Board of Deutsche Bahn AG
New start for Deutsche Bahn
Evelyn Palla, Chairwoman of the Management Board of Deutsche Bahn AG; Photo: Deutsche Bahn AG/dpa/Christoph Soeder
Since October, the new CEO Evelyn Palla has been setting the course for a new era at Deutsche Bahn. Her aim is to finally bring the ‘Agenda for satisfied customers on the railways’ to life. Three immediate programmes are intended to make stations noticeably safer and cleaner; increase comfort on long-distance services and improve customer information - long before the major general renovation of the network will be completed. In an interview with InnoTrans Report, Palla explains how she is bundling ‘running trains while building’ in the new infrastructure department; why 2026 will be the year of restructuring for the Group and the network and why she is convinced that a lean, decentralised Group is the key to improved punctuality and customer satisfaction.
Innotrans Report:
What specific changes will customers experience as a result of the implementation of the ‘Agenda for satisfied customers on the railways’?
Evelyn Palla: Together with Federal Minister of Transport, Mr Schnieder, we gave the go-ahead for the first immediate action programme last week. It focuses on increased security, which we want to guarantee in cooperation with the Federal Police and the police of the Federal States, and on significantly improved cleanliness at railway stations. These are precisely the points that our customers will notice immediately. Two further immediate programmes will follow: one for more comfort on long-distance services and one for significantly improved customer information. In doing so, we are sending a clear signal: even if the fundamental modernisation of the infrastructure and thus a sustainable improvement in punctuality will take time, we do not want to wait. We want to achieve tangible improvements now. We want our customers to be able to see that Deutsche Bahn is getting better step by step.
How do you intend to organise the balancing act between the general refurbishment of the network; ongoing operations and growth targets in passenger and freight transport without further worsening the already strained quality of operations?
Evelyn Palla: The load on the rail network is extremely high today - and will remain so. 2026 will be a real ‘super construction year’, with more construction sites than ever before. But there is no alternative: these extensive works are the only way to improve punctuality in the long term. Our aim is to keep operations as stable as possible at the same time. To achieve this, we are focus sing on two key levers. Firstly, we will bring train operations and construction works much closer together. With the reorganisation of DB InfraGO, we are bundling both areas into one department for the first time. This creates a clear definition of responsibility at local level in the regional areas and focuses more strongly on punctuality than in the past. Secondly, we will be reducing unplanned construction sites. From 2027, fixed time slots for construction work will be scheduled in the annual timetable. This means that on some routes regular closures will be scheduled so that we can bundle whatever repairs need to be carried out. As these times will be included in the timetable from the outset, there will be no additional delays. Punctuality will nevertheless remain a major challenge in 2026.
What structure do you think is necessary in the long term to make Deutsche Bahn more efficient and at the same time more customer-orientated?
Evelyn Palla: Deutsche Bahn needs a clear and consistent customer focus. To achieve this, we are realigning the entire Group more strongly towards our core business. My goal is a leaner, much more decentralised organisation. In future, responsibility should lie more where the work is done - locally. We will noticeably reduce the size of the head office. In future, it will only concentrate on governance tasks. This is far more than just an organisational measure. It is a radical reorganisation of the Group and the prerequisite for making faster decisions; implementing them better and becoming more efficient overall. And this is precisely what will ultimately pay dividends in terms of both customer satisfaction and profitability.
What specific steps are you planning to take in this direction during your term of office?
Evelyn Palla: As I said, we have started a real new beginning in the DB Group. These are the most far-reaching structural changes since the railway reform in 1994 - and we are implementing them at a rapid pace. The first steps have already been taken: for example, we reduced the Group Management Board from eight to six members as of 1 January. Further measures will follow this year. 2026 will be the year of the actual Group reorganisation. At the same time, we are pressing ahead with the renovation of the infrastructure to improve punctuality and are taking many small steps which our customers will feel directly from now on - for example through the three immediate action programmes. My ambition is clear: Deutsche Bahn must become simpler, faster and more customer-oriented. It should once again become the number one railway company in Europe.
Ms Palla, thank you very much for the interview.