EVG and GDL want savings in railway management.

Berlin – The Railway and Transport Union (EVG) and the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) consider further cost-cutting measures at Deutsche Bahn (DB) necessary, but insist that they must primarily target management. "No company can afford a tenfold increase in management levels, as has occurred in recent years," EVG Chairman Martin Burkert told Welt am Sonntag. GDL Chairman Mario Reiß sees the many inefficient service companies within the group as the main problem. "I know of cases where €5,000 per employee per year was billed for IT – for a simple laptop," said Reiß. This "internal diversion of funds" ensures that "the lights don't go out" at DB's Berlin headquarters. These demands come at a time when the new CEO of Deutsche Bahn, Evelyn Palla, has herself announced staff reductions. She intends to "turn the company on its head." Functions within the company are to be eliminated and the corporate management structure streamlined. In the first half of 2025, DB incurred a loss of 760 million euros.