New head of German railway announces complete restructuring

New head of German railway announces complete restructuring Patrick Schnieder, German Minister of Transport, Evelyn Palla, CEO of DB, stand in front of Deutsche Bahn's new ICE L train at Berlin Ostbahnhof during its premiere. For the first time, Deutsche Bahn presented the complete train, which offers, among other things, stepless boarding, to the public at Berlin Ostbahnhof. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa

BERLIN (DPA, CONVERSEER) – The new head of Deutsche Bahn (DB) plans to completely restructure the company and significantly improve the quality of the state-run rail operator.

“We are turning the company upside down: I am aiming for a complete fresh start,” Evelyn Palla told the Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

“For this, we need to do everything differently than before.”

Drastic cuts at the company headquarters

“I am reviewing every job for its added value to our customers. The administration must serve the railway workers,” she said.

Many decisions, according to Palla, will no longer be made at headquarters – the Bahn Tower in Berlin.

“I am making the people on the ground the decision-makers,” she said. “They are the backbone of our company. They, too, deserve a fresh start.”

Less bureaucracy

Palla also announced changes at the executive level.

“My goal is less bureaucracy at Deutsche Bahn and significantly more room for doers,” she said. “Decisions will in future be made where the responsibility lies, not three floors higher.”

Dirty trains, grimy stations, and closed or defective on-board bistros, she said, should no longer exist in the future. For rail customers, there will be a digital “construction site tracker” to better plan their journeys.

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