DB Cargo is reportedly planning to reduce its workshop services across Germany. The aim of the move would be to get rid of loss-making business units and improve the company’s financial situation. The freight operator needs to become profitable by 2026 to avoid meeting the fate of its former French counterpart, Fret SNCF.
The German freight operator is currently on a strict austerity programme as part of a restructuring plan. The workshop game plan was reportedly presented to a General Works Council in late July, likely alongside the company’s controversial single wagonload ideas.
According to German press agency dpa, DB Cargo will eliminate 170 jobs alongside workshop closures. The upcoming changes will change the maintenance landscape in the country considerably. For example, the workshop in Mainz-Bischofsheim is slated for complete closure.
No more wagon maintenance
In other locations, DB will discontinue wagon maintenance. Those include Halle (Saale), Seelze, and Oberhausen, with these locations focusing solely on locomotive repairs in the future.
DB Cargo anticipates that this restructuring will enhance efficiency through the development of specialised teams, according to dpa. Negotiations with employee representatives are set to commence in September.
If the proposed plan by DB Cargo’s management is approved through negotiations with employee representatives, the following changes will occur:
Remaining facilities, at least in part with reduced services:
- 10 plants: Hagen, Halle (Saale), Cologne-Gremberg, Mannheim, Oberhausen, Maschen, Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, Seddin, Seelze/Lohnde
- 5 branch offices: Bebra, Braunschweig, Bremerhaven, Kornwestheim, and Munich
Facilities to be closed entirely:
- Main plant: Mainz-Bischofsheim
- 10 branch offices: Rostock, Osnabrück, Magdeburg, Senftenberg, Hamburg-Billwerder, Offenburg, Ingolstadt, Regensburg, Emden, and Stendell