DB Cargo Rail Freight TransportDB Cargo Rail Freight TransportWithin the Deutsche Bahn Group, DB Cargo is mainly responsible for the following subsidiary and sister companies, all of which are directly involved in the domain of rail freight transport:
These are joined by further companies that have special responsibilities in areas such as sales, transporting dangerous goods and combining traffic flows:
DB Cargo Service Catalogue The service catalogue of DB Cargo consists of a wide variety of basic, additional and special services. The company's core products particularly include block train and single wagonload transport services, the combination of rail and road, and carbon-neutral transport, for example for Audi. The latter is becoming increasingly important given that rail transport currently has the lowest carbon emissions of all carriers and also achieved the largest savings in recent years (1995–2015). The company additionally offers a wide range of industry solutions, for example for the chemicals industry and the timber and building materials trades. DB Cargo is also active on an international level. Its global operations particularly focus on transport between Europe and Asia, where the company has an extensive network. Its service portfolio also includes related services such as the sale and rental of locomotives and wagons. DB Cargo Key Figures In the 2018 business year, DB Cargo transported more than 255 million tonnes of goods in 2,686 traction units and 82,895 goods wagons. Leased or hired materials are factored into these totals. The company provided its services on around 4,200 sidings belonging to clients in Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It transported goods along a route network covering a total of 33,000 kilometres in Germany and, according to calculations by the German Federal Office for Goods Transport (BAG), achieved an average punctuality rate of 72.9% when providing these services. DB Cargo Criticism During 2019, DB Cargo was reportedly operating at a loss. Critics have accused Deutsche Bahn of having neglected the necessary maintenance work on, and the modernisation of, DB Cargo's infrastructure, claims have also been made that the comparably high average age of its locomotives and wagons is a prime example of this problem. In September 2019, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) responded to criticism by the German Federal Court of Auditors regarding the company's lack of investments by arguing that DB Cargo and other segments had yet to exhaust their full potential. During mid 2022, the European Commission (EC) conducted an investigation into the allegedly unfair provision of state aid to DB Cargo from the German government. Limited amounts of state aid, such as to offset the abnormal economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have been approved by the EC in the past. Single wagonload transport have played a special role in the economic development of DB Cargo and the wider rail freight sector alike. In the late 2010s, experts were issuing demands that the company subsidise its activities, or shrink its business, in this area in order to remain a strong competitive alternative to lorry transport. Following the Great Belt Bridge rail accident, in which eight people died, a union representative from DB Cargo was convicted of evidence tampering. DB Cargo AG Overview DB Cargo Trade Name: DB Cargo DB Cargo Company Type: Private DB Cargo Industry: Logistics DB Cargo Founded: 2009 DB Cargo Headquarters: Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany DB Cargo Key People: Sigrid Nikutta, CEO DB Cargo Products: Rail Transport DB Cargo Revenue: €4.5 billion DB Cargo Number of Employees: 29,525 (2019) DB Cargo Parent: Deutsche Bahn DB Cargo Subsidiaries: 20 worldwide, including freight and contract logistics | |||||
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