Deutsche Bahn is speeding up the recruitment of new employees. "We've upped the ante with the recruitment and brought 2,000 new employees on board more than planned," said Group HR Director Martin Seiler on Monday.

A total of around 26,000 employment commitments have been made so far this year, it said, more than ever before. The bottom line is that this means an increase in employment of 5000 employees, because every year thousands of colleagues leave the company, mainly for reasons of age.

Deutsche Bahn plans to plant a tree for every new employee by April next year, a total of 26,000 in ten different federal states.

The company intends to hire new employees at a similarly high level in the coming year. An agreement had been reached with the union side to recruit at least 18,000 new people this year and last year. At the end of June this year, the group employed more than 338,600 people worldwide, around 220,500 of them in Germany.