The BVG sees itself on the right track, but a look at the new business report reveals that the company still faces major challenges and risks. On Friday, BVG CEO Henrik Falk presented the report for 2025 together with Economic Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD), who is also Chair of the BVG Supervisory Board. From the perspective of those responsible, there has been progress particularly in the reliability of the underground trains. It stood at 96 percent at the end of 2025 and reached 98.6 percent in the first quarter of 2026. “The new trains now in operation are the game changer for improving reliability,” said Giffey.

According to BVG, 130 new carriages are now in service on the U2 line, with ten more to follow soon. New trains are also being introduced on the large-profile lines U5 to U9. The first vehicles have been running with passengers on the U5 since Friday for testing purposes. Another positive point from BVG’s perspective: although a loss of 50 million euros was again recorded last year, it was seven million lower than in 2024 and significantly below expectations. A slight profit is expected for 2026. “That must be our goal,” said Giffey.

At the same time, the report also reveals that BVG is still falling short in some areas. This applies, for example, to punctuality. According to the transport contract, an annual average of 92.3 percent of trams should be on time. In reality, only 86.7 percent were punctual last year. The target was also missed for buses: instead of the required 88.99 percent, only 87.2 percent arrived on time.

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The underground came closest to meeting the target: 98.3 percent of trains ran on time compared to the contractual target of 98.7 percent. However, a vehicle is still considered on time if it arrives up to 3.5 minutes late. Falk explained that the initial focus had been on reliability—ensuring that as many scheduled services as possible actually run. “Punctuality is the next issue we will address,” he said.

According to the report, several factors negatively affected bus and tram operations: “numerous construction projects, events and demonstrations across the city, combined with a lack of acceleration and priority measures.” The data also shows that not only punctuality was lower: in all three operating areas, slightly fewer so-called service kilometers were recorded in 2025 compared to 2024. This refers to the number of kilometers that buses, underground trains and trams traveled carrying passengers.

BVG sees high risk from delays in workshop expansion

In addition to the review, the report also outlines future challenges for BVG. A major risk is that the necessary expansion of underground workshops may not be completed on time. BVG reports delays both in the planning and implementation of its workshop concept and in essential renovation work. As a result, “bottlenecks in the provision, maintenance and availability of underground vehicles may arise in the medium term.”

The consequences would be “clearly noticeable in passenger operations,” the company writes. Measures have now been taken, including the appointment of an external project manager. The aim is “to minimize the already critical delays through partial parallelization of work processes and the use of synergies, and to optimize workflows.”

Another risk also affects the underground system. According to the report, a new control system for operations was supposed to be introduced, but the project was “terminated without satisfactory results.” An alternative is now being examined. However, the original timeline has already been exceeded by three years. The current system must therefore be used longer than planned, even though it is technically outdated. “This increases the risk of failures that can affect operations and important passenger information systems,” the report states.

BVG plans to invest more than one billion euros this year

In addition, BVG expects challenges that affect the economy as a whole. The company notes that it faces “significant supply chain risks.” It also remains a major task to recruit enough skilled workers. “Careful filling of vacancies in critical infrastructure and IT roles is essential to maintain reliable operations,” the report says. A positive development last year was that BVG increased its workforce by more than 250 employees, including more drivers.

The development of BVG also depends heavily on major investments. More than one billion euros are planned for investment this year. The funds will go into station renovations, expanding accessibility, video technology at underground stations, as well as new vehicles and electromobility. In 2025, BVG invested just over 530 million euros, compared to around 362 million in 2024. While the amount has increased, it still fell short of planned spending. According to BVG, this must change in order to tackle the backlog in infrastructure modernization.

This article was originally written and published on the 30th of April in German. It was translated in English with the use of Artificial Intelligence.