Our targets

Other important levers for increasing product quality include the use of more modern vehicles, reliable and comprehensive customer and transport information, the quality and reliability of services offered, as well as reasonable travel and transport times. That is why we continually invest in our fleet and infrastructure and optimize cooperation with our suppliers and sector partners. We also place a strong emphasis on tapping into the opportunities of digitalization. Our initiatives for increasing product quality and improving customer satisfaction are an important part of the plan to implement our strategy.

Regular evaluation of customer satisfaction is hugely important to us. The surveys are conducted anonymously and by independent market research institutes.

Our target is the further increase of customer satisfaction:

• >80 SI at DB Long-Distance
• >75 SI at DB Regional
• >70 SI at DB Cargo

The current development of our  customer satisfaction can be found in our Integrated Report.

For us, increasing punctuality is the most important lever for improving product quality. Internal punctuality controls are based on lost units (number of delays). To measure punctuality, we compare the target arrival time to the actual arrival time for every train/bus run. A stop is considered on time if the scheduled arrival time is exceeded by less than six minutes in passenger transport or less than 16 minutes in freight transport. We summarize the arrival of trains/buses on schedule or up to a defined maximum delay using a degree of punctuality. In addition, since 2020, DB Regional Bus has also evaluated buses that have been operated more than one minute too early as not punctual, with retroactive effect.

The figures are recorded daily and are made available to executives and employees online, together with the lost units and other management key figures, allowing measures to be taken to manage the situation. In addition, punctuality data, together with the associated indicators, are prepared regularly and used by the Management Board to determine what currently needs to be acted upon and where decisions are required. Punctuality is the key indicator of product quality at a Group level in terms of the Strong Rail strategy, and is a determining factor in calculating the variable compensation amount for executives at DB Group.

Our target is the improvement of the operational punctuality:

• >80% at DB Long-Distance
• >95% at DB Regional
• >77% at DB Cargo

The current punctuality development can be found in our Integrated Report.

For us, climate protection means: Being climate neutral by 2040. Our climate protection target is a net-zero target based on the standard of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) with a 1.5°C-compliant reduction pathway. This means at least a 90 % reduction in Scope 1 to 3 emissions compared to 2019. We want to neutralize the residual emissions of a maximum of 10 % that are difficult or otherwise unavoidable.

We are relying on four powerful levers: expanding green electricity, phasing out diesel, embarking on the heat transition and increasing energy efficiency.

We have set ourselves ambitious milestones on the way:

• By 2030, we will increase the share of renewable energies in the DB traction current mix in Germany to 80%.
• By 2029, 66% of suppliers (according to emissions volume) of purchased goods and services and investment goods (Scope 3.1 and 3.2) are to have science-based emissions targets. 
• By 2034, we will reduce our absolute greenhouse gas emissions in Scope 1 and 2 by 66% compared to 2019. In addition, we want to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions from energy and fuel-related activities (Scope 3.3) by 40% by 2024 compared to 2019 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the use and utilization of fossil fuels sold (Scope 3.11) by 63 % compared to 2019. 
• By 2038, we will convert DB's traction current in Germany to 100% green electricity in order to operate electrified DB rail transport in Germany with electricity from renewable energies. A goal that we have already achieved in long-distance transport: since 2018, our customers have been using 100% green electricity on our long-distance trains in Germany.

The protection of nature and biodiversity is a central task for us, which we take into account from the planning stage through to the construction and operation of our facilities. To this end, we are developing a biodiversity strategy that goes beyond compensating for negative impacts and creates sustainable added value for nature. 

To counteract the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems, we act according to the principle of the mitigation hierarchy: first, negative impacts on nature must be avoided as far as possible. Where interventions are unavoidable, we implement measures to mitigate the negative effects. We create suitable compensation areas for any remaining adverse effects in order to fully compensate for them in accordance with nature conservation legislation.

We aim to establish a circular economy by 2040, with a particular focus on Germany. For us, the circular economy means using raw materials sparingly, keeping them in the value chain for as long as possible and - where technically and legally possible - recycling our waste in order to reduce the need for primary raw materials and the volume of waste.

We are using various levers to achieve this. For example, we want to use almost twice as much recycled rail steel by 2030 as we did in 2019, thus increasing the recycled content from 25% to around 45%. In the case of track ballast, the proportion is to increase from 13% to around 40% over the same period, tripling it. We want to use five times as much recycled material for concrete ties, incerasing the proportion from 6% in 2019 to around 30% in 2030. Another lever is the handling of materials already in use. We will continue to maintain our recycling rate at the high level of at least 95% in the future.

For us, noise protection also means thinking about those people who live next to the rails. This is because we know that continuing to reduce rail noise for local residents is a key requirement for successfully transferring traffic to rail services. We are therefore continuing our efforts to achieve our 2030/2050 noise control target:

• In continuation of the Federal Government's noise remediation program, we will reduce rail traffic noise on a total of 3,250 km of existing lines by 2030. This will reduce rail traffic noise for more than half of affected residents.
• By 2050, we will have remedied the noise pollution caused by rail transport on all 6,500 km of affected lines and for all affected residents.

Increasing the share of women among executive roles is part of our comprehensive diversity strategy. The Management Board adopted new targets in March 2020 on the path to a gender-balanced workforce. The proportion of women in management-level roles in companies falling under the Law for the Equal Participation of Women and Men in Management Positions (Gesetz für die gleichberechtigte Teilhabe von Frauen und Männern an Führungspositionen; FüPoG) is expected to increase to a total of 30% at the Supervisory Board, Management Board and first and second management levels by the end of 2024.

Committed and motivated employees are the prerequisite for satisfied customers and thus for sustainable corporate success. We therefore work consistently to increase the performance capability of the DB Group through high process orientation and implementation strength.

Our target is to further improve employee satisfaction with a target value of ≥ 3.8 SI.

More Information on employee satisfaction can be found in our Integrated Report.