#RAILFLUENCER NEWSLETTER No. 5: Interview with Dr. Sigrid Nikutta, Member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bahn AG - 28.05.2023

Today I am happy to share with you my new edition of the #RAILFLUENCER newsletter.

I decided to concentrate on the backbone of the economy the freight operations. Visiting the #transportlogistics2023 in Munich this month I was thrilled by the vision and innovation power of the freight operators and the industry to ease the #intermodal #shift2rail for a more sustainable future.

Of course the rail community alone will not be able to consequently change the move towards more sustainable solutions but we all have to contribute to make it happen in our behavior and our choice for the transportation mode.

In this context I am more than proud to have this edition as featured interview partner Dr. Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta to discuss the future of rail freight transport in Germany and beyond. Let me shortly introduce to you Mrs. Nikutta:

Dr. Sigrid Nikutta has been the Member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bahn AG responsible for freight transport since 1 January 2020. She also acts as the Chairman of the Management Board of DB Cargo AG. As Europe's largest freight railway, DB Cargo is active in 17 countries. And, as a company with 30,000 employees, it forms a strong part of the backbone of the European economy.

Previously, she served for almost ten years as CEO of Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), leading the company into profitability for the first time. From 1996-2010 she held various management positions at Deutsche Bahn AG. Dr. Sigrid Nikutta studied psychology and received her doctorate from the LMU Munich in 2009. She also Member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Berlin Merchants and Industrialists (VBKI), Chair of the Board of Trustees of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) and member of the Supervisory Board of Knorr-Bremse AG.

The #RAILFLUENCER Interview

#RAILFLUENCER: Dr. Nikutta, it is a pleasure to finally meet and talk with you on your vision for the rail-based mobility of the future. May I start by asking how you found your passion for mobility?

Dr. Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta : One of the greatest challenges of our time is the question of how we can stop human-made climate change.

I truly believe that rail is a central lever in this process - whether it be in the expansion of local public transport systems or in the shift of freight transport to environmentally friendly rail.

It is encouraging to see the determination with which our European industry and economy is moving towards transformation. Our delivery and supply chains in particular offer great potential if we engage with climate-neutral solutions - and this is already possible with rail in Europe today. No other continent has such a dense eco-friendly network as our rail network. So, as the Member of the Management Board for Freight Transport at Deutsche Bahn and Chair of the Management Board of DB Cargo, I am passionate about shifting more freight from road to rail - because we only have this one world. Green supply chains are more important than ever.

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#RAILFLUENCER: Shift2Rail is our overall target to fight climate change. What are your personal targets, highlights from the last three years and your outlook for the next decade?

Dr. Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta : We are living through a decade of rail. There have never been more passengers in Europe, more high-speed trains crossing Europe in just a few hours. And there has never been more interest from the business community in climate-neutral supply routes by freight train. Politics has set the right course. That is a good thing.

Nevertheless, upgrading the infrastructure, including digitalising and automating the European rail network, will be a real Herculean task for my generation and certainly for the next.

In the long term, European freight transport will likewise continue to grow strongly in the coming years. We must prepare now so that this growth can take place on rail.

Already today, 60% of my DB Cargo trains cross at least one European country border on every journey. Investments in rail are definitely money well spent. Because with digitalisation and automation, we can put more freight on the rails without having to build new tracks. It pays off for everyone! By taking that approach, we will be able to increase the share of rail in freight transport to 30% in the next few years.

The entire European economy is on the exciting path of transformation, towards climate neutrality; Europe is making itself "fit for 55", as one of the European Commission's programmes describes the percentage targets for decarbonisation. At DB Cargo, we offer Europe's largest climate-friendly network in nineteen countries with more than 4,200 access points. Compared to road transport, each freight train saves 80% to 100% CO2 and replaces about 52 trucks on European motorways with one single driver.

#RAILFLUENCER: You are one of the leading women in mobility. What can be done in the years to come to motivate more young women to enter our industry?

Dr. Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta : Our demanding business needs the best minds - both women and men. The more successful women we have in the sector, the more good role models there are.

At DB Cargo, we have a very simple approach: we like to train specialists directly in our company and in large numbers. This year, our goal is to hire 600 vocational trainees - the skilled workers of tomorrow. We recruit young academics through dual study and graduate trainee programmes.

And the word is out that what matters to us is a person's performance, not their gender, sexual orientation, background or religion. In a job with us, men and women can balance work and family life.

And, of course, working together on a task so crucial for our world -?that spurs us on, motivates us and makes us happy. It takes each and every one of us to move this essential lever for CO2 reduction to neutral.

#RAILFLUENCER: DB is one of the driving forces in creating the European Transport Network and, together with the German rail industry, one of the innovation labs for the global rail industry. Which weaknesses are we facing in your view and how can we overcome them in the future?

Dr. Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta : I'll give you a quick figure: 1,435 millimetres - that was the first system standard in industrial history, almost 200 years ago. It is the gauge of the British railways, which gradually grew into the immense cross-border network of lines throughout Europe that we know today.

Now is a time for new standards in the system: digital control and command technology for trains, the entire signalling and timetabling infrastructure will move from the track into the locomotive cabs in the next few years. Freight wagons are becoming digital and smart, our customers can track their cargo in real time and schedule train operations in a completely new way.

Digitalising and automating our operations is the key to quickly transporting more freight by rail. Digital automatic coupling (DAC) is at the heart of making the entire freight train smart. DAC changes everything in rail freight transport, because it makes all operational processes faster and easier than they used to be. That is why DAC is such an important building block for achieving Europe's climate goals. And that is why it is a pan-European task to tackle this mammoth investment together. If we manage to establish digitalisation and automation as the new standard for the almost 500,000 freight wagons in Europe, we will make that all-important technological leap.

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#RAILFLUENCER: Alternative traction is one of the key development areas of the moment. How are DB and DB Cargo driving the change towards using even more sustainable traction technologies such as batteries, hydrogen and other alternatives?

Dr. Sigrid Evelyn Nikutta : DB Cargo already achieves 95% of its tractive output in the rail network using climate-friendly electric locomotives.

However, the last mile to the customer's siding can usually only be travelled by diesel locomotive. The solution is to use hybrid drive technology. The new eco-friendly dual-power locomotives we use run with electric power on routes with overhead lines, and with diesel on the routes where there are no overhead lines, for example, when accessing customers' factory premises.

This means that, going forward, the dual-power locomotives will be used both as main-line locomotives for heavier hand-over journeys and as shunting locomotives. DB Cargo's goal is to retrofit around 70% of its diesel locomotives with innovative drive systems by 2030.

The second solution is to use HVO, short for hydrotreated vegetable oil. Because, on sections of track without overhead lines, we are running ever more dual-mode locomotives powered by this alternative biofuel.

HVO causes around 90% fewer carbon emissions than conventional diesel. This year alone we will fill up with 10 million litres of HVO! Which means that dual-mode locomotives can run the last mile in a carbon-neutral way. And our existing diesel locomotive fleet, too, can be refuelled completely with HVO.

#RAILFLUENCER: Thank you so much for this extraordinary insight. Keep your passion and let’s continue to work on the mobility of tomorrow! See you at the latest in Berlin at the 8th Railway Forum on September 6/7, 2023 organized by IPM Conferences and Events (IPM AG)

Let me at the end recommend some upcoming events:

• UITP in Barcelona, Spain - June 4-8, 2023 - visit website at UITP Global Public Transport Summit - Barcelona 4 - 7 June 2023 (uitpsummit.org)
• UNIFE General Assembly in Madrid, Spain - June 14-16, 2023 - visit website at General Assembly 2023 - UNIFE
• 6th Lake Constance Mobility Supplier Summit in Friedrichshafen, Germany organized by Berlin Institute Supply Chain Management GmbH
• 8th Railway Forum on September 6/7, 2023 organized by IPM Conferences and Events (IPM AG)

Thank you for visiting, reading, sharing and supporting the?#RAILFLUENCER?Newsletter.

Yours,

Jan Christoph Harder, the?#RAILFLUENCER