GERMAN Rail’s (DB) rail freight subsidiary, DB Cargo has confirmed it will withdraw freight services from 215 locations in Germany.
DB Cargo is attempting to return to profitability and growth. It is possible that some of the withdrawn freight routes will be served by some of Germany’s many small short-line style operators, as has happened in the past when DB has ceased serving freight customers.
DB Cargo needs to “enormously improve” both productivity and quality. The underlying cause of DB’s difficulties was the poor performance of its rail freight business, especially in Germany. Despite a 1.4% overall increase in freight tonne-km in Germany during 2015, DB Cargo suffered a 4.3% drop in tonne-km to 98 billion and saw its freight revenue drop by 8-10%.