Sigrid Nikutta’s days as CEO of DB Cargo may be numbered. The supervisory board of the German rail freight operator is scheduled to meet on 30 October to decide on her possible dismissal, following an explicit request from the powerful Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft (EVG) union, which has accused her of running the company in a “disastrous” way. Since taking office in January 2020, DB Cargo has reportedly accumulated losses exceeding €3.1 billion. Several German outlets claim her removal is certain, though the final decision will come from the board meeting. The EVG president, Martin Burkert, who sits on the supervisory board, is expected to support the motion.
Backing the likelihood of Nikutta’s dismissal, German newspapers Die Zeit and Der Spiegel have cited the findings of consultancy Oliver Wyman, which they claim to have seen in advance. The report concludes that the restructuring plan presented by Nikutta contains serious structural shortcomings: the measures aimed at improving profitability are “insufficiently concrete”, while “some of the planning assumptions appear highly optimistic and probably unrealistic in the current market and competitive context”.
The report is particularly critical of Nikutta’s approach to single-wagon transport — the segment that accounts for around 40% of DB Cargo’s traffic but also generates most of its operating losses. According to Oliver Wyman, “the concept for single-wagon transport relies on a portfolio of measures that are still largely at the design stage and heavily dependent on unverified assumptions”. The consultants also noted that it was impossible to produce a full assessment as DB Cargo had failed to provide the necessary documentation in time.
Despite the detailed criticism, the report acknowledges that a successful restructuring of DB Cargo remains theoretically achievable, suggesting that the company’s core issue lies not in its structure but in the quality of its strategy. This assessment could make it easier for Deutsche Bahn to opt for a leadership change rather than consider more radical solutions such as liquidation or break-up.
Another factor in favour of Nikutta’s removal is the leadership change at the parent company. On 1 October 2025, South Tyrolean-born Evelyn Palla took over as CEO of Deutsche Bahn, immediately announcing a “revolution” and declaring that every position would be reviewed in terms of the value it brings to customers. Palla has already announced major management changes — including at senior level — with the goal of “cutting bureaucracy and creating room for operational staff. Decisions will be made where the responsibility lies, not three levels higher.” These are hardly reassuring words for Nikutta.
Some German media, including Handelsblatt and Süddeutsche Zeitung, have gone further, reporting that no successor for Nikutta has yet been identified, either within the company or among the union’s preferred candidates. The plan reportedly foresees appointing not only a new CEO but also an external Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) dedicated solely to the company’s turnaround.
In the first half of 2025, DB Cargo recorded a 9% drop in revenue to €2.5 billion and a 10% decline in transported volumes, with operating losses of €96 million. Although this represents an improvement on previous years — losses hit a record €858 million in 2022 — it does not signal a structural recovery. Cumulative losses from 2020 to 2024 total around €3.1 billion, a record low in the company’s history. Until 2024, these losses were systematically covered by Deutsche Bahn through a profit-and-loss transfer agreement, a mechanism allowing the parent company to automatically offset its subsidiary’s deficits.
This financial performance reflects the operational picture. DB Cargo’s share of the German rail freight market has steadily declined from around 60% a few years ago to 44% in 2023, according to the latest Bundesnetzagentur data, with some segments even lower at around 40%. The remaining 60% of the market is now held by private operators, who — unlike DB Cargo — are profitable.
The company’s position further weakened after the European Commission’s decision in November 2024 to approve €1.9 billion in state aid for DB Cargo, subject to strict conditions. The Commission required Deutsche Bahn to end the profit-and-loss transfer agreement by 31 December 2024 and for DB Cargo to achieve sustainable profitability by the end of 2026, or face potential break-up. Additional competitive restrictions were also imposed, including a “growth ban” limiting DB Cargo’s production volume to offset the market distortion created by the aid.
So what did Nikutta propose that angered the union so much? Her recovery strategy was built around three pillars: drastic staff reductions, asset disposals and the restructuring of single-wagon transport. According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the plan envisaged cutting the workforce from nearly 19,000 in 2023 to around 10,000 by 2030 — a 47% reduction. It also included closing ten of the fifteen regional depots and several maintenance workshops.
On the asset side, DB Cargo sold 6,000 freight wagons to leasing company Gatx Rail Europe, generating a one-off positive result but creating a structural dependency: the company now rents back the wagons, incurring recurring costs. The EVG union sharply criticised the move as selling off the company’s “family silver”, worsening its long-term financial sustainability. The strategy also included switching from company-owned to leased locomotives — another measure critics say would further erode DB Cargo’s operational autonomy.
