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54-400: The ramp is 5.6 km long and climbs a height of 112 m. It has an incline of 1:44.5, which is 22.5 ‰ or 2.25%. The curve radius in places is less than 300 m, with a minimum of 278 m. This section of the line is therefore built in accordance with the standards for mountain railways . With the passing of the law affecting the construction of railways in 1843, the decision

108-479: A multitude of smaller acquisitions such as the transport and logistics divisions of RAG AG . In Sweden, where Deutsche Bahn was unable to acquire its chosen target, the company instead focused on establishing collaborative ventures. At the end of the 2000s, Railion was therefore able to not only offer connections across large stretches of Europe running from north to south, but reliably serve rail route that run from west to east as well. Despite this expansion into

162-632: A partner of the European Xrail Alliance  [ de ] , represented by its subsidiary DB Schenker Rail (now DB Cargo). Ever since it was established, the alliance has focused on the objective of making single wagonload transport, namely freight trains with wagons used by different clients, a more competitive alternative to lorry transport. Xrail also aims to achieve more customer-friendly service, efficiency and punctuality in cross-border transport, for example with its universal booking system, Xrail Capacity Booking (XCB). Within

216-633: A registered office in Mainz and a further administrative office in Frankfurt am Main . The company was founded as DB Cargo AG on 1 January 1999 under the second stage of liberalisation reform of the German railway system (Bahnreform) underway around this time. Initial operations were primarily focused on the rail freight market within Germany; however, during early 2000, the company was reorganised under

270-418: A significant decline. One of the primary factors behind this decline was the economic slump that had followed the global economic and financial crisis . The company initially responded to this negative development by introducing a more flexible price structure. It aimed to use a combination of block trains for large clients and bookings of single wagons to establish a fixed timetable that would in turn increase

324-663: Is Richard Lutz (manager)  [ de ] , who has been the CEO of Deutsche Bahn since 2017. The vice-chairman is Martin Burkert, a member of the board of the German Railway and Transport Union  [ de ] (EVG). Claus Weselsky, chairman of the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL), is another member of the supervisory board, which therefore contains representatives from the two leading trade unions for

378-606: Is a railway that operates in a mountainous region . It may operate through the mountains by following mountain valleys and tunneling beneath mountain passes , or it may climb a mountain to provide transport to and from the summit . Mountain railways often use narrow gauge tracks to allow for tight curves in the track and reduce tunnel size and structure gauge , and hence construction cost and effort. Where mountain railways need to climb steep gradients, they may use steep grade railway technology, or even operate as funicular railways . Bohinj railway The Culdee Fell Railway

432-442: Is entitled to carry out all activities deemed to serve the specified business purpose either directly or indirectly. This includes the establishment and management of companies and the acquisition of other companies. DB Cargo AG has a share capital of 256,007,000,000 euros, which is divided into 51,201,400 no-par value bearer shares . When it transferred the assets and liabilities of its former freight transport division as part of

486-590: Is featured in the book Mountain Engines , part of The Railway Series by Rev.W.Awdry . Railion DB Cargo (previously known as Railion and DB Schenker Rail ) is an international transport and logistics company . It is responsible for all of the rail freight transport activities of the German railway company Deutsche Bahn (the DB Group) both inside Germany and on a global level. DB Cargo has

540-403: Is the gradual optimisation of train drivers' productivity. The current changes being implemented at DB Cargo form part of the strategy to strengthen Deutsche Bahn in its entirety that was launched in 2019. During the global outbreak of the novel respiratory disease COVID-19 , which hindered cross-border logistics due to limitations in the area of passenger and goods transport , the company

594-584: The COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine have challenged the company and driven changes. Within the context of the battle against climate change , however, the role of DB Cargo is also thought to be increasingly important, as the company offers transport options that are entirely carbon neutral . However, the company has been criticised for a lack of investment into both its rolling stock and infrastructure, and thus constraining its performance. In late 2019, Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta took on

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648-528: The European Commission (EC) conducted an investigation into the allegedly unfair provision of state aid to DB Cargo from the German government. Limited amounts of state aid, such as to offset the abnormal economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic , have been approved by the EC in the past. Single wagonload transport have played a special role in the economic development of DB Cargo and

702-867: The Federal Republic of Germany . The Board of Management of DB Cargo AG is composed of at least two people, one of whom is responsible for staff-related and social matters in connection with employees. Otherwise, the Supervisory Board determines the number and identities of the members of the Board of Management The current Members of the DB Cargo AG Board of Management are Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta ( Chairwoman ), Ursula Biernert (Human Resources), Thorsten Dieter (Service), Ralf Günter Kloß (Production), Martina Niemann (Finance/Controlling) and Pierre Timmermans (Sales). The percentage of women on

756-474: The German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BWVI). Although the wagons used by DB Cargo have generally become older in recent years, they have also increased in size so that they can transport larger quantities of goods. As of 2020, the majority of freight is still being transported by road, DB Cargo stands to gain from the increased interest in its services due to

810-528: The Railion holding company as part of a merger between DB Cargo and the Dutch state-owned rail company Nederlanse Spoorwegen 's rail freight operations. This new structure was designed for the cooperation, and incorporation, of future partnerships with other rail freight companies; between 2004 and 2009, Railion expanded its operations into Italy , Switzerland , and Poland , typically via acquisitions. Following

864-440: The noise pollution generated by the movement of its freight trains. Another area of investment by the company has been the addition of state-of-the-art sensors and telematics, which has reportedly been responsible for improvements in its competitiveness. Seeking to progress developments in this area, between 2016 and 2019, DB Cargo played a leading role in the "Innovative Freight Wagons " research project conducted on behalf of

918-639: The timber and building materials trades. DB Cargo is also active on an international level. Its global operations particularly focus on transport between Europe and Asia, where the company has an extensive network. Its service portfolio also includes related services such as the sale and rental of locomotives and wagons. In the 2018 business year, DB Cargo transported more than 255 million tonnes of goods in 2,686 traction units and 82,895 goods wagons . Leased or hired materials are factored into these totals. The company provided its services on around 4,200 sidings belonging to clients in Germany, Denmark, Italy,

972-625: The Deutsche Bahn Group, DB Cargo is mainly responsible for the following subsidiary and sister companies , all of which are directly involved in the domain of rail freight transport: These are joined by further companies that have special responsibilities in areas such as sales, transporting dangerous goods and combining traffic flows: The service catalogue of DB Cargo consists of a wide variety of basic, additional and special services. The company's core products particularly include block train and single wagonload transport services,

1026-535: The Geislinger Steige (e. g. Class 66 of the Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln (HGK). The top speed on the ramp at Geislinger Steige is 70 km/h. Trains with uncoupled banking engines climb the ramp at 60 km/h. To make matters even more inconvenient, the track practically encircles the town in an almost perfect horseshoe shape. Thus it runs round almost two thirds of Geislingen's location within

1080-482: The German transport and logistics market. As the competitive environment with other European providers became increasingly challenging in the late 1990s, Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the Dutch state-owned rail company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) announced plans to merge their rail freight transport activities in 1998. Together, DB Cargo and NS Cargo reached revenues of around 6.9 billion Deutsche Mark (3.5 billion euros) and had roughly 50,000 employees. Their amalgamation

1134-697: The InterRegioExpress (IRE) runs every two hours, which during the week is run four times a day with a Sprinter with two Class 218 diesel locomotives ; the rest of the time with Class 146.2 , from Lindau to Stuttgart and back. By hooking the banking engines up front and back, the least time is lost for passengers on the Geislinger Steige. As before, however, heavy goods trains are pushed. For Railion trains (formerly DB Cargo) there are two DB Class 151 engines at Geislingen. Since increasingly private railway companies in Germany are transporting freight, private banking engines may also be encountered on

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1188-562: The Netherlands and Switzerland. It transported goods along a route network covering a total of 33,000 kilometres in Germany and, according to calculations by the German Federal Office for Goods Transport  [ de ] (BAG), achieved an average punctuality rate of 72.9% when providing these services. During 2019, DB Cargo was reportedly operating at a loss. Critics have accused Deutsche Bahn of having neglected

1242-546: The acquisition of Schenker AG in the early 2000s, the company was restructured again and adopted the DB Schenker Rail branding. During 2016, to indicate its core focus on rail freight transportation, the company was once more rebranded as DB Cargo AG ; this naming scheme has been progressively replicated across the majority of its international subsidiaries as well. The services provided by DB Cargo include both block train and single wagonload transport services,

1296-535: The banking locomotives on stand-by duty there was a depot ( Bahnbetriebswerk ) with the necessary facilities. In 1933 the line was electrified by the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft . Electric locomotives were considerably more powerful than steam locomotives. That meant banking duties were reduced. For the remaining work locomotives of DRG Class E 93 (later 193) and DRB Class E 94 (194) were employed. Amongst others, they relieved

1350-520: The board exceeds the average value of other German companies. The supervisory board of DB Cargo AG has 20 members. It is composed of shareholder and employee representatives in equal measure, who are elected according to the regulations of the German Stock Corporation Act  [ de ] and German Codetermination Act  [ de ] . The supervisory board currently has six female and 14 male members. Its chairman

1404-671: The building of the ramp is the firm of WMF (Württemberg Metal Factory) at Geislingen an der Steige. Its operation was a challenge for the Royal Württemberg State Railways (K.W.St.E.) as well as the Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn . In the steam locomotive age every train, even the Orient-Express , had to be assisted. As a result, the railway stations at Geislingen (Steige) and Amstetten are correspondingly large. For

1458-430: The capacity utilisation of its trains. Other measures considered included the closure of numerous freight railway stations in order to reduce fixed costs, and efforts to reduce staff headcount at all levels of the business. News of these cost reduction measures was quickly met with sharp criticism by various trade unions ; their opposition included demands that the approach be abandoned immediately, and accusations of

1512-401: The combination of rail and road, and carbon-neutral transport, for example for Audi . The latter is becoming increasingly important given that rail transport currently has the lowest carbon emissions of all carriers and also achieved the largest savings in recent years (1995–2015). The company additionally offers a wide range of industry solutions, for example for the chemicals industry and

1566-405: The company's mismanagement. Following several months of negotiations, the Deutsche Bahn Group and its works council finally agreed on a restructuring programme for DB Cargo during February 2007. Under this programme, the previously proposed across-the-board job cuts that year were avoided, instead, the new approach aimed for the gradual reduction of headcount over a period of several years. On

1620-541: The entity's rail freight transport division structured under public law into a private enterprise company. Accordingly, on 1 January 1999, the company DB Cargo AG was ultimately founded to undertake these operations. The headquarters of DB Cargo AG were established in Mainz. At first, DB Cargo solely focused on its domestic activities. Accordingly, the Deutsche Bahn Group produced investment plans that directed billions in its subsidiary in order to improve its position in

1674-560: The expectation that rail freight transport will play an essential role in achieving climate targets. Within this context and based on expert opinions, in September 2019, the German Federal Government announced plans to transfer millions of lorry trips from road to rail, although similar attempts made in previous years had reportedly achieved little progress. One of the main measures planned towards achieving this aim

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1728-447: The general objective pursued by Deutsche Bahn was to better cover the entire transport chain with all transportation means and routes. Over the years that followed, however, this approach mainly resulted in a shift of its freight transport activities away from the rails and towards the road network instead. The company realised that it needed to improve the links between its rail and road transport in particular, and securing acquisitions

1782-457: The integrated rail system of the DB Group. According to media reports, DB Cargo reduced its fleet size by nearly one half in the 2000s and 2010s. The remaining locomotives were increasingly replaced by multi-system models that can also be used in the international rail network. Furthermore, the company also equipped its inventory of wagons with whisper brakes, which had reportedly halved

1836-430: The latter of which have been abandoned by many of the company's rivals. Based on the number of kilometres travelled, DB Cargo is the market leader in both Germany and Europe, although its transport services have been in decline for several years. Seeking to reverse this decline, a more flexible price structure was adopted alongside various cost-cutting measures in 2016. During the early 2020s, major global events such as

1890-675: The necessary maintenance work on, and the modernisation of, DB Cargo's infrastructure ; claims have also been made that the comparably high average age of its locomotives and wagons is a prime example of this problem. In September 2019, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) responded to criticism by the German Federal Court of Auditors regarding the company's lack of investments by arguing that DB Cargo and other segments had yet to exhaust their full potential. During mid 2022,

1944-566: The needs of a large scale military conflict in Eastern Europe. DB Cargo AG, a public limited company under German law, acts as a holding company for the operational entities. Its corporate purpose covers rail and road services for the transportation of all kinds of goods and the procurement and operation of stationary and mobile means of transport such as locomotives , railcars , wagons and other containers . Its articles of association also cover related services. The holding company

1998-403: The new line have still not been finalised. Due to the steepness of the new line heavy trains will not be permitted to use it. As a result, pusher services on the Geislinger Steige, which have been going for 150 years, will continue to be needed. 48°35′49″N 9°51′04″E  /  48.5969°N 9.8511°E  / 48.5969; 9.8511 Mountain railway A mountain railway

2052-593: The organisation was open to the incorporation of further partners. While the European Commission and European Parliament aimed to promote competition among providers, the providers themselves instead opted to foster cooperation. During 2001, the Danish state-owned rail company Danske Statsbaner (DSB) opted to merge its rail freight transport activities into the joint venture, becoming its third partner and received shares totalling 2% in Railion in return, thus decreasing

2106-436: The other Railion companies solely focused on freight forwarding while Stinnes and Schenker took on central tasks in the fields of rail freight transport and sales. By consolidating all of its transport and logistics activities, Deutsche Bahn also aimed to achieve growth in the freight transport domain. The company adjusted its image to reflect this aim and as a result, DB Cargo was renamed Railion Deutschland . At this point,

2160-439: The rai freight sectors of several neighbouring nations, the presence of effective competition to provide freight services had reportedly made a negative impact on the company's economic development by May 2005. Recognising the company's unfavourable financial position, Deutsche Bahn opted to respond by enacting numerous cost-saving measures; these were credited with a significant improvement in Railion's circumstances. During 2010,

2214-620: The rail freight transport crisis was initially deemed to have been largely resolved. During early 2003, Deutsche Bahn transferred its share in Railion to the Stinnes AG  [ de ] (which later became DB Mobility Logistics ). After the successful acquisition of the then-listed logistics company Stinnes , including its freight forwarding subsidiary Schenker AG , a restructuring of responsibilities took place within Deutsche Bahn. Subsequently, DB Cargo, NS Cargo and most of

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2268-478: The rail industry in Germany. The business operations of DB Cargo are divided into three regions: Germany, Central Europe and Western & Eastern Europe . The German company DB Cargo AG is responsible for both operational services in the field of rail freight transport in Germany and central functions such as production, sales, finance and human resources for the entire DB Cargo Group. During 2010, Deutsche Bahn joined several other railway companies in becoming

2322-401: The role of CEO of DB Cargo. At the end of the 1990s, the operational business of Deutsche Bahn was reorganised into five legally independent joint-stock companies . This measure formed part of the second stage of the German rail reform. Within the scope of this restructuring, a precursor company was initially established in 1997, which had the purpose of facilitating a transformation of

2376-410: The spin-off for the establishment of a new company, Deutsche Bahn AG acquired all of the company's shares and is therefore the sole shareholder of DB Cargo AG. A control and profit-and-loss-transfer agreement is in place between the parent company and subsidiary . DB Cargo AG is included in the consolidated financial statement of Deutsche Bahn. The company Deutsche Bahn AG is in turn wholly owned by

2430-472: The stake of Deutsche Bahn in the venture to 92%. The cooperation between DB, NS and DSB has reportedly played an essential role in Deutsche Bahn's long-term strategy for expansion in other European countries. This strategy covered not only state-owned rail companies but also the acquisition of private sector rivals, for example in Italy (2004), Switzerland (2007) and Poland (2009). These were joined by

2484-614: The steam locomotives of DRG Class 59 . In the Deutsche Bundesbahn era the trains were mainly hauled by standard electrics, the so-called Einheits-Elektrolokomotiven , and also the DB Class 103 . In February 1975 the so-called Gleiswechselbetrieb between Geislingen (Steige) and Amstetten was introduced. This means that both tracks can be used in either direction and enables, for example, slower trains to change tracks to allow faster trains to overtake. In March 1986 this

2538-531: The valley, significantly enlongating the track. In order to get rid of that bottleneck a new high-speed line is being planned: the Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed railway , for speeds up to 250 km/h. It is intended to get round the height difference at Geislingen using two tunnels, each 8 km long. The still-outstanding financial risk cover was sorted out in July 2007. On the down side, plans for other sections of

2592-533: The whole, the company retained its ambition to grow its freight transport activities. To reflect the company's focus on its core business activities in the domain of rail freight transport, it was again renamed, adopting the DB Cargo AG designation in early 2016. The name was also readopted for its most important German and international subsidiaries and continues to apply in the present day. Accordingly, DB Cargo and DB Schenker are equal sister companies within

2646-541: Was able to secure its transport operations successfully. DB Cargo provided additional capacities for transporting supplies for the population, especially food and hygiene products. The running of large special freight services, such as the "Pasta Express" from Italy, attracted considerable media attention. Shortly after the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , DB Cargo started hauling aid from across Europe to Ukraine ; however, military officials have issued warnings that DB Cargo lacks sufficient capacity to meet

2700-516: Was also brought in between Geislingen West and Geislingen (Steige). In 1987 Class 140s (temporarily) and 150s replaced the Class 194s as pusher locomotives. The Class 150s have since been retired. Since 1991 banking duties have largely been done away with on passenger trains as a result of the introduction of the ICEs and more powerful locomotives (e. g. DBAG Class 101 , DB Class 120 ). As before

2754-542: Was effectively made to build a line from Heilbronn – at that time the final destination for shipping on the river Neckar - to Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance , the first railway line in Württemberg . The biggest difficulty to the construction was the unfavourable topography, because the Swabian Jura had to be crossed between Geislingen and Ulm . After various options had been investigated and discarded, it

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2808-495: Was finally decided to build a short, steep ramp at Geislingen: the Geislinger Steige. The construction of the railway ramp was entrusted to senior engineer ( Oberingenieur ) Michael Knoll and master builder ( Oberbaurat ) Karl von Etzel , who had gained experience on the Brennerbahn through (South) Tyrol . Construction began in 1847 and the ramp was opened in 1850, around 3,000 workers having been employed. Closely linked to

2862-447: Was one way to do so. In 2009, Deutsche Bahn abandoned the Railion brand and instead chose to consolidate all of its rail freight transport activities under the name DB Schenker Rail. At the time, its organisational structure remained unchanged. Media reports, however, already began to speculate about a stock market launch of the newly formed DB Schenker division. During the 2010s, the business operations of DB Schenker Rail experienced

2916-408: Was the first ever cross-border rail merger, in which Deutsche Bahn retained its majority share of 94%. A financial holding company , Railion GmbH , was created for this new company, and commenced operations during early 2000. The successful creation and launch of Railion laid the foundation for the establishment of a leading European transport and logistics company. Specifically, from the onset,

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