German railway faces major disruptions due to extreme weather in June

Germany's railway service reliability took a severe hit in June 2024 due to the effects of extreme weather events, reported news agency dpa. Ageing and overloaded infrastructure have had a negative effect on the railway for a while, with just 64 percent of long-distance trains reaching their destination on time in 2023 — meaning less than six minutes late. In June this year, bad weather and floods further aggravated the situation, which meant that only around 55 percent of long-distance trains arrived to their destination on time, railway service Deutsche Bahn (DB) told dpa. "The extreme weather conditions in the first half of June caused a massive setback to our punctuality," DB said. "On average, over 400 long-distance trains per day were affected by external influences such as landslides, floods and dam damage." Flood-related damages had caused the state-owned company 15 percentage points in punctuality in June, a spokesperson told the news agency. Heavy rains led to mass flooding in southern Germany in early June, with record rainfall recorded locally in parts of the states Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg.

A recent Monopolies Commission report stated that the planned measures to improve the quality of the railway system are inadequate. "Management measures should be geared much more directly to the needs of railway customers than has been the case to date," the report reads. Delays and dissatisfaction have also been evident during the European football championships, of which Germany is the host of and where rail travel was set to boost the event's sustainability claims.

Trains are central to Germany’s plans to reduce transport emissions – passenger numbers are meant to double by 2030 compared to 2019 figures.