Germany news: DB hampered by 'organized irresponsibility'
08/02/2026 August 2, 2026 Deutsche Bahn chief Evelyn Palla blasts 'organized irresponsibility' in the company Germany's railway operator has been plagued by years of delayed
08/02/2026 August 2, 2026 Deutsche Bahn chief Evelyn Palla blasts 'organized irresponsibility' in the company Germany's railway operator has been plagued by years of delayed schedules Image: Arne Meyer/dpa/picture alliance The culture inside Germany's Deutsche Bahn (DB) is already shifting but the current crisis will take years to overcome, the head of the national railway company told Germany's Welt am Sonntag. CEO Evelyn Palla criticized the old decision-making process in DB, saying that the central management often made big decisions on the operative level.
"The people in the headquarters, who made those decisions, don't have any responsibility for implementing them in the field," Palla said. "They have to be implemented by colleagues who are out there. But they say 'I didn't make this call, and it also doesn't work for me.' Then the headquarters says 'I have no operational responsibility, those people in the field did not implement [the decision] properly.' In the end it was something like organized irresponsibility." Deutsche Bahn: Reliable no more?
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video She told the paper that much has been "reformed" and "slimmed down" since she took the reins of the state-owned firm last October, and that multiple administration levels inside DB had been cut. "But all of that does not make for a better (Deutsche) Bahn," she added. "Things will only change when the management changes, when decentralized units take responsibility and live with it." In the interview published on Sunday, she also said that the German railway network was "run into the ground by 25 years of saving money" and that tangible improvements will take time.
She pointed to DB's 200-year anniversary coming in 2035, saying that "this should be the year when the worst is behind us."
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