In the timetable of the German railway network, a Pufferzeit, buffer time, is a binding extra minute between two trains. It comes on top of the gap that is technically required. Deutsche Bahn says it is meant to stop delays from passing on to the following trains. It is being introduced route by route. DB also plans Joker-Gleise, joker tracks. A joker track is a platform track in a station that is kept free on purpose and may only be used when needed. The seven big hubs, Hamburg, Berlin, Hanover, Cologne, Frankfurt, Mannheim and Munich, count as heavily loaded. In March 2026, a news report described the problem plainly. Because buffers are missing, delays pass on to the following trains. In February 2026, the punctuality of DB long-distance trains was 59.4 percent.
The buffer minute is being added to a network where many hubs and main lines are overloaded.