Deutsche Bahn (DB) has reflected on a challenging 2013 despite seeing an extra 42 million passengers travelling on the German rail network in the past year.
Higher passenger numbers were offset by rising costs, with the state-owned operator recording an adjusted EBIT down €472 million on the previous year to €2.2 billion.
DB attributed the fall to rising energy and staffing costs as well as the disruption and damage caused by flooding earlier in the year.
Commenting on the increase in passengers, Dr Rüdiger Grube, chief executive and chairman of DB, said: “This upward trend is good news in this, the 20th anniversary of the German rail reform.”
DB’s chief financial officer, Dr Richard Lutz, added: “No doubt about it—the figures are not satisfactory. But current trends raise hopes that the situation will improve over the course of this year.”
Turnover remained fairly stable at €39.1 billion, down slightly on the €39.3 recorded in 2012.
DB’s net financial debt also remained “stable” at €16.4 billion.
Rail freight was affected by the challenging economic environment, declining by 1.5 per cent to 104.3 billion tonne kilometers in 2013.
