About 4.9 million passengers traveled on long-distance trains in Germany over the Christmas holidays, national railway company Deutsche Bahn told dpa on Friday.
This was 8% more than the same period last year, the report said.
It evaluated booking data for the period from December 18 to December 28.
Germany’s InterCity Express (ICE) and InterCity (IC) trains were booked at 60% of their capacity during the period, the report said.
“My special thanks go to the colleagues who worked around the clock over the Christmas period to ensure that our passengers reached their destinations safely,” said Michael Peterson, Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance travel manager.
Christmas traffic on the network was surprisingly smooth and punctual, the operator added.
On December 24 and 25, 80% of long-distance trains arrived on time, a spokesperson confirmed.
This is significantly higher than the expected annual punctuality of 65%.
“Even on the days with the highest number of passengers, December 20 and 22, there were no significant restrictions,” the company said.
Deutsche Bahn expects that the lower volume of construction work and freight traffic, which uses the same tracks as passenger trains, during the holiday period has contributed to this.
It added that new trains have made it possible to expand seating capacity on long-distance trains this year.
