Deutsche Bahn confronts Stuttgart 21 delay, corporate overhaul and nationwide rail outage

The long‑running Stuttgart 21 project has been pushed back again. Deutsche Bahn now expects the new underground station to open in December 2031, five years later than the previous target. The postponement is attributed to a difficult digitalisation of the Stuttgart rail node, insufficient planning maturity, faulty cable installations and problems with a technical building. Cost estimates have risen by up to €3 billion, taking the total project budget to around €11.3 billion, and a court ruling means the state, city and regional authorities will not share the extra costs.

At the same time, DB chief executive Evelyn Palla unveiled a three‑phase restructuring programme. About 30 % of the roughly 3,500 senior‑management posts will be cut, regional managers will receive greater operational responsibility and the group will focus on reliability, quality and financial sustainability. The plan sets a positive net result for 2026, targets operating earnings of €1.7 billion by 2030 and aims for 80 % on‑time performance on long‑distance services by 2035. Phase 1 (2024‑2026) will lay the organisational groundwork, Phase 2 (2027‑2030) will concentrate on renovating the ageing rail network, and Phase 3 (2031‑2035) will deliver the promised service improvements.

A separate incident highlighted the fragility of DB’s operations. On the night of 23‑24 June, a scheduled replacement of a GSM‑R radio component failed, halting all regional and long‑distance trains across Germany for about two hours. Thousands of passengers were stranded and the company’s communication to customers was heavily criticised. DB reported that traffic resumed on the morning of 24 June, although freight services continued to experience disruptions.