DB Fernverkehr is Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance passenger operator, running ICE and Intercity trains within Germany and to 14 other European countries. It carried 134.5 million passengers in 2025.
DB Fernverkehr is a subsidiary of DB AG. It runs more than 800 long-distance services a day in Germany and around 250 daily cross-border connections to more than 80 European cities.
Long-distance rail in Germany is run on a commercial basis, so ticket revenue has to cover the operator’s costs. DB Fernverkehr carries the revenue risk on its routes and competes with open-access operators such as Flixtrain on some of them.
Its fleet of more than 500 trains is maintained at 10 workshop locations. At the end of 2025 it included 403 ICE trains, among them 39 ICE 3neo units and the first two ICE L trains.
Punctuality and finances
DB Fernverkehr’s punctuality fell to 60.1% in 2025, from 62.5% in 2024. A stop counts as punctual when a train arrives less than six minutes late, and the monthly figure stood at 54.2% in August 2026.
Faults and construction work on the network managed by DB InfraGO are the main cause of delays. The corridor renewals close heavily used lines for months and divert long-distance trains onto slower routes.
Revenue rose 4.2% to EUR 6,407m in 2025, and the loss after tax narrowed to EUR 290m from EUR 427m. Passenger numbers grew 1.9% over the year.