Former ÖBB Boss Kern Criticizes German Railway
"There are too many levels at Deutsche Bahn, too many managers walking around, plus numerous business consultants. It will never work like this," emphasized ex-ÖBB CEO Kern in an interview with the German "Zeit" (Thursday edition).
ÖBB CEO Matthä: "Not a single freight train is on time in Germany"
Just yesterday, ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä said at a press conference about the difficulties with the neighbour: "Not a single freight train is on time in Germany." The ÖBB now employs 30 people in Vienna who solely monitor the traffic of ÖBB freight trains in Germany. Despite all the criticism of Deutsche Bahn, Kern defended its CEO Richard Lutz: "Lutz is an excellent man. Knowledgeable, he deserves trust."
For Kern, who was the CEO of the Austrian Federal Railways from 2010 to 2016, Deutsche Bahn needs "top-down directives" and financing independent of election results. Kern considers the political demand that Deutsche Bahn must make profits to be "the biggest lie of the railway". The railway infrastructure is a public good and a state task. "We must abandon the idea that we will ever make real profits," he explained.
Ex-ÖBB CEO Kern sees Austria between overestimation and inferiority complex
The poor condition of DB harms his company - the ex-chancellor is the managing director of the Viennese European Locomotive Leasing (ELL) - and also privately. "A family member is constantly getting lost in the vastness of the German rail network - at least temporarily," the ex-politician of the Republic of Austria describes his "worries". However, he has also developed a sporting approach. "Yes, you know, we in Austria fluctuate between overestimation and an inferiority complex towards the big neighbour, and when something runs much better here, there is certainly a sporting joy," Kern noted to the "Zeit".
And he chatted about his time as a railway boss in Vienna, when he halved the management. I remember that soon after the start I called the faction leader of the ÖVP and said to him: "I am now throwing out 15 people who are attributed to the conservatives. Of course, he did not agree," said the former SPÖ chancellor. His answer was: "We can gladly discuss this on a stage in front of the public. I will then explain why I consider these people to be his stuffed animals, who are unsuitable and only hinder the shop. After an hour his resistance was gone. I threw the people out." He had similar conflicts with his party, the SPÖ. "Party friends and the works council were boiling when I put social democratic people out the door. In such a crisis, you have to use the power of a new beginning," Kern looked back.
Kern also finds critical words about train journeys to Germany. "When you cross the German border from Austria at Salzburg, it's like going from Silicon Valley to the wild prairie, there's only lederhosen, no laptop." Here he is alluding to criticism that the reception and the internet along many German railway lines are dilapidated. Austria is much better off here. "At the ÖBB, for example, we always get funds guaranteed for six years, not just for one legislative period, and almost three times as much per citizen is invested in the rail. The Germans focus much more on the debt brake," said Kern.
(APA/Red)
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