Deutsche Bahn AG earmarks EUR 1 billion for new trains

Nov 12, 2019: A new management board has been given a go-ahead by the supervisory board at Deutsche Bahn AG. The board will also invest EUR 1 billion in additional trains.

The new management board will see Dr. Sigrid Nikutta at the helm of affairs. Dr. Nikutta will take charge of the board for freight transport starting January 1, 2020. She will also head DB's freight transport vertical, as chair and CEO of DB Cargo, in Mainz.

Dr. Nikutta has been associated with DB Cargo from 2001 to 2010 where she was responsible for block train transport. She was also on the management board of DB Schenker Rail Polska.

“There is a lot of work to do in freight transport if we are to meet the company's ambitious goals,” said Michael Odenwald, chairman of the supervisory board. “Restructuring the management board will give Dr. Nikutta the decision-making flexibility she will need.”

“We are looking forward to working with Sigrid Nikutta and joining forces to tackle the work ahead of us,” stated Dr. Richard Lutz, chairman and CEO.

The DB supervisory board also gave the go-ahead for the expansion of long-distance fleet. This, in return, will lead to creation of hundreds of new jobs. As of now, orders for 137 ICE 4, 23 ECx and 17 KISS trains have been placed for the coming years. The supervisory board has approved the purchase of 30 more high-speed trains, which will step up the number of seats on the Cologne-Rhine-Main and Munich-Berlin lines.

The new trains will increase at least 11,400 more seats on long-distance trains from December 2022. The specifications demand eight bicycle spaces per train. In addition to this major investment, DB Long Distance is investing EUR 500 million to expand its ICE maintenance depots, which will create even more jobs. DB's Frankfurt-Griesheim depot will see a major expansion to service more more trains. Plans are underway to expand the Cottbus depot. DB will create 600 new jobs in all as a result of these investments.