Deutsche Bahn says it has largely solved the long‑standing staffing shortages in its signal control centers. According to the company’s statement to the “Tagesspiegel”, since the beginning of 2026 the so‑called operational‑effectiveness staffing ratio has been secured at an average of 100 % nationwide across all signal centers. While isolated bottlenecks may still occur, the overall average now ensures sufficient signal dispatchers.
Philipp Nagl, head of DB InfraGO-Deutsche Bahn’s subsidiary responsible for the railway network-described the achievement for such a critical profession as “extremely high”. He added that, through recruitment and the hiring of trainees, the company has attracted roughly 2,200 new colleagues for signal services by December 2025, an increase of 10 % over the previous year. Nagl stressed the importance of attracting skilled workers and retaining them, while also accelerating the renewal of signalling and safety technology.
Across many German regions, a shortage of signal dispatchers had repeatedly caused delays and cancellations in recent years, for which Deutsche Bahn had been blamed by private operators and railway associations. The regulatory authority, the Bundesnetzagentur, had issued multiple fines against the company, which manages the state‑owned rail network on behalf of the federal government.
Even the regulator now observes an upward trend. “The progress in staffing signal centers is encouraging” a spokesperson told the “Tagesspiegel”. “Because of the clearly positive trend, we have recently refrained from threatening further fines”.