DB must give competitors track access, tickets could get cheaper

Deutsche Bahn may soon be forced to give competitors greater access to run services on Germany’s rail network. Train tickets might get cheaper as a result, but DB has warned of other disadvantages to passengers.

DB must open track network to competitors

The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has said that Deutsche Bahn may soon be obliged to grant competitors greater access to operate services on routes where its trains are often at maximum capacity.

On these busy routes, Deutsche Bahn may soon have to give between 25 and 40 percent of the route capacity over to competitors, such as FlixTrain or other European rail companies. 

Until now, Deutsche Bahn has operated 95 percent of the services which run on the German track network. While DB InfraGO is responsible for designating routes and timetables, the Bundesnetzagentur oversees how InfraGO grants access to tracks.

The announcement follows an appeal for clarification by the Italian rail operator Italo, which plans to operate services within Germany. Starting in 2028, Italo plans to run trains connecting Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Dortmund every hour and trains connecting Munich, Berlin and Hamburg every two hours.

“DB’s competitors, such as Italo [...] until now, could not reliably estimate whether they would get enough access to the track [to justify investing in new trains],” Bundesnetzagentur head Klaus Müller told Tagesschau.

Cheaper tickets, but fewer rural services?

While the Bundesnetzagentur predicts that a move away from Deutsche Bahn’s track monopoly might make tickets slightly cheaper for passengers, the national rail operator has warned that it would need to cut back long-distance services in rural areas.

This is because revenue from high-speed services on busy routes funds long-distance services on lower-demand routes.

The Bundesnetzagentur’s preliminary decision will now be forwarded to the Railway Infrastructure Advisory Board (Eisenbahninfrastrukturbeirat), which should reach a final decision within the coming two weeks.