The number of passengers riding Deutsche Bahn trains rose again in the first half of 2014. DB also reported its best punctuality rates in years. It made progress in internet reception on trains and in digital services for customers.
Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of DB, Dr Rüdiger Grube, was also able to report strong business figures at the 2014 Interim Results Press Conference:
"From a financial standpoint, the first six months of the year were positive. Deutsche Bahn is back on an upswing, in terms of both revenues and EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization). Punctuality also developed nicely. 95.6% of Deutsche Bahn’s passenger trains reached their destinations on time from January to June."
Rail passenger transport achieved a new passenger record in the first half of 2014. The number of passengers riding DB trains in Germany rose 10 million year on year, slightly surpassing the one billion passenger mark. Volume sold in rail passenger transport fell somewhat, by 0.4%, to 42.9 billion passenger kilometers (pkm). The business unit also saw its bus ridership increase in Europe, by 10 million passengers or 1%, to 1.06 billion in the first half of the year. Volume sold in bus transport declined, however, by 1.5% to 4.2 billion pkm.
Volume sold in rail freight transport rose 489 million metric ton kilometers (tkm) in the first six months to 52.1 billion tkm, an increase of 0.9%. All business segments in the Logistics business unit experienced considerable growth. The number of consignments in European land transport increased 3.6%, while air freight volume rose 2.6%, ocean freight saw gains of 8.5% and contract logistics turnover increased 8.9%.
Volume produced in the rail network rose again after falling in the previous year. It was up 1.1% to 517 million train-path kilometers in the first half of the year. Of that amount, non-DB operators produced 127.3 million train-path kilometers, continuing to increase their share. They now account for 24.6% of volume produced in the rail network.
(Source: DB)
