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German Transport Minister's Train Tour Starts With Broken Air Conditioning
🇩🇪 Germany /Energy & Infrastructure

German Transport Minister's Train Tour Starts With Broken Air Conditioning

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified New plan
  • German Transport Minister Steffen Bilger's summer tour began with a train malfunction, forcing him to switch cars due to a broken air conditioning system.
  • Bilger plans to inspect train safety and station cleanliness during his two-day trip, which also saw his regional train delayed.
  • The minister recently announced plans to link Deutsche Bahn managers' bonuses to performance targets like punctuality, aiming for 70% on-time long-distance trains by 2029.

German Transport Minister Steffen Bilger's inaugural summer tour, aimed at assessing the state of Deutsche Bahn, got off to a rocky start. On his journey from Berlin to Hamburg, the minister had to switch train cars because the air conditioning system failed. The affected car was subsequently taken out of service.

Bilger's two-day tour includes stops in Pinneberg and Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, where he intends to examine train safety and the cleanliness of railway stations. The regional express train he took from Pinneberg to Kiel also experienced an eleven-minute delay.

This incident comes as Bilger, who took office in late July, announced new measures regarding executive bonuses at Deutsche Bahn. He plans to tie manager compensation to federally set goals, such as punctuality. Bilger stated that an agreement with the railway company aims for 70% of long-distance trains to be on time by 2029, acknowledging that 100% punctuality is not foreseeable.

100 percent will not be foreseeable.

— Steffen BilgerBilger discussing punctuality targets for Deutsche Bahn's long-distance services.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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