For the first time in the history of Deutsche Bahn, a woman will become chair of the board of the German national railway company. That honor goes to Evelyn Palla, who previously headed Deutsche Bahn’s regional train division. In the German business world, it remains relatively rare for women to hold the top position in large companies.
Palla (52) faces a significant challenge: Deutsche Bahn needs to invest more, become more reliable, and more sustainable, while struggling with financial and staffing shortages. Interestingly, Palla has a train driver’s license.
Predecessor dismissed
Evelyn Pall, who previously headed Deutsche Bahn’s regional train division, is taking over the top job from CEO Richard Lutz, who had been at the helm of the German national railway company since 2019.
Lutz was dismissed in August by Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder due to the “dramatic situation” on the railways, but he remained in office until a successor was found.
Palla, a mother of three from South Tyrol, Italy, has been with Deutsche Bahn since 2019. Before that, she worked for Austrian railways ÖBB, where she held various management positions in passenger transport, procurement, and controlling.
She recently achieved a turnaround in the company’s performance with DB Regio: in the first half of 2025, the company posted an operating profit under her leadership.
Major problems
Deutsche Bahn, formed in 1994 following German reunification, when the West German Bundesbahn and East German Deutsche Reichsbahn were merged, has 231,000 employees worldwide, with 220,000 based in Germany. Last year, its turnover exceeded €26 billion.
Deutsche Bahn is facing significant challenges, including frequent delays, train cancellations, and outdated infrastructure. In August, only about 60% of long-distance trains ran on time, causing considerable frustration among rail passengers.
The company operates a rail network of over 33,000 km, making Germany a key European rail hub. Deutsche Bahn is currently investing billions in modernizing the railways, which often causes disruptions to services.
By 2029, the group is expected to receive 107 billion euros in government support, including more than 20 billion euros this year, thanks to the 500 billion euros special infrastructure fund adopted by Friederich Merz’s government in March.
Union may still stand in the way
Other objectives, apart from accelerating digitalization to make travel more user-friendly, include renovating 250 level crossings and at least 500 stations by 2030, with a further 500 to follow in the next five years, to make these locations “safe” and “clean,” particularly through the use of video surveillance.
Finally, Deutsche Bahn plans to divest non-strategic activities to reduce its debt, which remains high despite the sale of its logistics subsidiary Schenker, and also implement restructuring measures.
Deutsche Bahn aims to do the latter, for example, through its infrastructure division InfraGo, which is responsible for rail infrastructure. However, the proposal to appoint Dirk Rompf, a former member of the DB Nets board, the predecessor of DB InfraGo, as the new CEO of that division has not been well received.
The railway workers’ union EVG even wants to block the election of Evelyn Palla to the supervisory board, not against her personally, but in protest against the appointment of Rompf, who is considered responsible for the neglect of the rail infrastructure and is very unpopular with the staff.
It is expected that the chance of EVG being able to block Palla’s appointment is realistic but small.
