Discount for late German train

3 February 2004

BERLIN – It a bid to improve is its image, German Rail will offer 20 per cent off the ticket price to any passenger who is delayed for more than an hour by one of its trains, Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa learned Monday.

The new policy will be unveiled before federal cabinet ministers in Berlin later this week, a German Rail official told dpa.

Until now, rail passengers qualified for compensation between about EUR 10 and EUR 25 on a sliding scale for delays of between 30 to 90 minutes.

While the vast majority of trains run on time in Germany, delays have increased in recent years as the organization absorbed the former East German railways system and was forced to undergo stringent economy measures.