Despite the recent appointment of Evelyn Palla as the new CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, significant uncertainty persists within the company and among government stakeholders regarding the future direction of the organization.
A central point of contention revolves around the degree of separation planned for InfraGo, the infrastructure division. According to reports, discrepancies have emerged concerning the proposed structure, specifically regarding the leadership of InfraGo’s supervisory board.
Prior to Palla’s official announcement, a draft document indicated that a member of the Deutsche Bahn AG corporate board would retain the chairmanship of the InfraGo supervisory board, intended to maintain a link to the broader corporate structure. This proposal was reportedly aimed at appeasing the railway union EVG and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), both of whom have voiced concerns about a complete separation of the infrastructure arm.
However, this clause has since been omitted from the final version of the “Agenda for satisfied customers on the rails” spearheaded by Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder. Questions are being raised whether this alteration signals a less extensive separation than initially intended. The Transport Ministry declined to comment on the change when approached for clarification, stating that only the published version of the agenda is authoritative.
Representatives from the EVG and SPD also refrained from commenting on the matter, likely to avoid escalating potential disagreements with Minister Schnieder. His previous attempt to appoint former rail manager Dirk Rompf as the new head of InfraGo had recently encountered resistance.