Deutsche Bahn sources loco pilots from India for its global projects

Germany's Deutsche Bahn (DB) has begun sourcing loco pilots from India for its global projects even as the state-owned rail company eyes expansion in the Indian market offering consultancy, operations and maintenance for metro systems.

"There is a shortage of train drivers in Germany, and we want to use our Indian manpower across global projects," Niko Warbanoff, CEO of DB International Operations (DB IO), told ET.

Around 100 DB employees, roughly a sixth of the company's Indian staff, are trained to take up global roles, company executives said.


"We have employed staff from Duhai (in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh) and surrounding areas who have been upskilled," Warbanoff said.

DB recently completed a year of running India's first regional rapid rail transit service (RRTS).

"We started India operations a year ago and are successfully running the RRTS service over the 42 km stretch with our 600 staff," he said, adding that India is a strategic market for the company.

In July 2022, DB bagged rights to operate and maintain the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS for 12 years. According to a statement from DB, this contract is worth over ₹100 million (around ₹1,000 crore). This was also the first time that comprehensive operation and maintenance (O&M) activities were handed over to a private concessionaire.

Traditionally, public transport services such as the railways and metro are developed and maintained by government entities in India.

According to Warbanoff, DB is eyeing more opportunities to run and maintain metro services in India.

Earlier this month, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and DB Engineering & Consulting entered into an agreement to explore joint business opportunities. This partnership will work on system engineering and integration, general engineering consultancy, project management and construction supervision for urban mass transit projects, among others.

But DB's India stint has been marred by a minor derailment on the ₹30,000-crore RRTS. Corrective measures followed after a rebuke from a high-level inquiry committee of technical experts constituted by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC).

Responding to these concerns, Warbanoff said: "There are one-off incidents that occur in a project of this scale. DB is performing exceptionally well on each key performance indicator (KPI)".