Palla: “We want people to be excited about our trains”

Berlin (dpa, d.de) – New Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla plans to thoroughly modernise Germany’s national rail operator. “We are going to turn the group inside out: I’m going for a completely fresh start,” Palla said. In future, decisions will no longer be taken at DB headquarters but to a greater extent in the divisions concerned. “I’m going to make the people on site the decision-makers,” said Palla. 

In launching the new ICE L, Deutsche Bahn also wants progress that passengers can see. “We want people to be excited about our trains,” Palla said. She explained that the new ICE L showed the group’s clear commitment to more comfort and reliability for passengers, and that every new train contributed to more stable operation. “That’s why we have been consistently modernising our fleet in the past few years and have purchased many new high-speed trains,” said Palla. 

The ICE L was unveiled at Berlin’s Ostbahnhof station. Initially, it will run from Berlin via Hanover to Münster and Cologne, and from May 2026 also between Berlin, Hamburg and Westerland on the North Sea island of Sylt. Later, north-south routes via Frankfurt, Bremen, Stuttgart and Dortmund will follow. The train offers full disabled access and is intended to score highly on comfort and reliability.