BERLIN (Reuters) – Further cost-cutting measures will be implemented at the German state railway Deutsche Bahn in an attempt to return it to profitability over the next three years, a government representative told Reuters on Monday.
“A three-year revamp across the whole company is in the works,” the source said, adding that previously announced job cuts would probably not be enough.
The company announced in July plans to cut 30,000 administrative posts over the next five years, around 9% of its staff, after huge investments to repair its rail network, strikes and bad weather led to a billion-euro net loss in the first half of the year.
Some intercity trains might also be axed as part of the plans, the source added, contradicting recent denials from Deutsche Bahn that they might be at risk.
A Deutsche Bahn spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
Deutsche Bahn has reported heavy losses across its local and long-distance services in recent years.
Its freight subsidiary DB Cargo has been in a state of crisis for years now and EU competition regulators recently indicated that the company should end a mechanism under which the parent company covers its losses.
The national rail operator also made international headlines over the summer due to punctuality problems during the Euro football championship.
(Reporting by Markus Wacket, writing by Louis van Boxel-Woolf, editing by Rachel More)
