Editing DB Cargo (section)

== Criticism ==
During 2019, DB Cargo was reportedly operating at a loss.<ref>{{Cite web |language = de |url = https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/bahn-tochter-db-cargo-steigert-verluste-a-1292950.html |title = Güterverkehr: Bahn-Tochter DB Cargo steigert Verluste. |publisher = Der Spiegel |date = 21 October 2019 |access-date = 10 January 2020}}</ref> Critics have accused Deutsche Bahn of having neglected the necessary maintenance work on, and the modernisation of, DB Cargo's [[infrastructure]]; claims have also been made that the comparably high average age of its locomotives and wagons is a prime example of this problem.<ref>{{Cite news |language = de |first = Anja |last = Krüger |url = https://taz.de/Gueterverkehr-der-Deutschen-Bahn/!5640524/ |title = Güterverkehr der Deutschen Bahn: Die Lage ist desaströs. |newspaper = Die Tageszeitung: Taz |publisher = Die Tageszeitung |date = 26 November 2019 |access-date = 10 January 2020}}</ref> In September 2019, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) responded to criticism by the [[Bundesrechnungshof|German Federal Court of Auditors]] regarding the company's lack of investments by arguing that DB Cargo and other segments had yet to exhaust their full potential.<ref>{{Cite web |language = de |url = https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/rechnungshof-deutsche-bahn-101.html |title = Bundesrechnungshof: Der Bahn fehlen drei Milliarden Euro. |publisher = Tagesschau |date = 13 September 2019 |access-date = 10 January 2020}}</ref>

During mid 2022, the [[European Commission]] (EC) conducted an investigation into the allegedly unfair provision of [[state aid]] to DB Cargo from the German government.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.railjournal.com/policy/ec-seeks-comments-under-db-cargo-state-aid-investigation/ |title = EC seeks comments under DB Cargo state aid investigation |publisher = International Railway Journal |date = 19 August 2022 |first = Robert |last = Preston}}</ref> Limited amounts of state aid, such as to offset the abnormal economic conditions caused by the [[COVID-19]] [[pandemic]], have been approved by the EC in the past.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_4726 |title = State aid: Commission approves €215 million German support to compensate Deutsche Bahn for damages suffered by its subsidiaries due to the coronavirus pandemic |publisher = ec.europa.eu |date = 27 July 2022}}</ref>

Single wagonload transport have played a special role in the economic development of DB Cargo and the wider rail freight sector alike. In the late 2010s, experts were issuing demands that the company subsidise its activities, or shrink its business, in this area in order to remain a strong competitive alternative to lorry transport.<ref>{{Cite web |language = de |first = Christian |last = Schlesiger |url = https://www.wiwo.de/unternehmen/dienstleister/gutachten-zu-db-cargo-einzelwagenverkehr-muss-subventioniert-oder-geschrumpft-werden/24861164.html |title = Gutachten zu DB Cargo: Einzelwagenverkehr muss subventioniert oder geschrumpft werden. |publisher = Wirtschaftswoche |date = 2 August 2019 |access-date = 10 January 2020}}</ref>

Following the [[Great Belt Bridge rail accident]], in which eight people died, a [[union representative]] from DB Cargo was convicted of [[Great Belt Bridge rail accident#Evidence_tampering|evidence tampering]].