Monday, September 16
Every 15th trip cancelled: BVG boss admits reliability issues
Frequent technical problems, an outdated fleet of vehicles, and a lack of clarity over when any of these issues will be resolved: the boss of Berliner Verkhrsbetriebe, or BVG, has admitted that a number of serious problems have led to the reliability of the Berlin U-Bahn network to decrease rapidly this year.
“None of us are happy about it,” CEO Henrik Falk told the RBB Abendschau. “New vehicles will arrive next year. I can’t say exactly when. Until then, we have to make the best of the fleet we have.”
According to current figures, the reliability of the U-Bahn network dropped to 93 percent in August, meaning that almost every 15th trip was cancelled. This is a dramatic fall on the 97.5 percent recorded in 2023, or the 99.2 percent in 2022. Falk believes the key to resolving these issues will involve bringing in new vehicles.
“Some of the vehicles have already been produced,” said Falk. “But there is no binding delivery plan.”
Despite the lack of clarity on the timeframe, there is some hope that the coming months will see a stabilisation of the service. The BVG have modified the frequency of the U2, U9, U4, U1 and U3 lines following the summer holidays in order to combat repeated delays.
