Pünktlich wie die Eisenbahn, as punctual as the railway, is an old German phrase of praise. Today it is mostly said with irony. In 2025 only 60.1 percent of Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance trains arrived on time, according to figures first reported by Bild am Sonntag. In 2015 the share had been 74.4 percent. By the railway’s own definition, a train is late from six minutes of delay. For 2026, the head of Deutsche Bahn, Evelyn Palla, hoped to reach at least 60 percent.
The irony only works because the old standard is still expected.