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The DB InfraGO AG, which started at the beginning of the year, has sent a worrying signal to the industry: Track prices for rail freight transport are set to rise by 13.4 percent starting in 2025 – an unprecedented increase. Together with the planned reduction of track price subsidies, freight railways face a price increase of 113 percent compared to December 2023.
“Another blow is looming for rail freight transport,” criticizes Peter Westenberger, managing director of the freight railways. Not only has the federal government suspended track price subsidies in the short term and intends to continue them at a significantly lower level. According to the wishes of DB InfraGO AG, track prices are also set to rise more than ever before. The combination of a reduction in track price subsidies and a simultaneous increase in fees means that costs for a standard freight train could rise from effectively 1.22 euros per train kilometer at the end of the 2023 timetable year (December 9, 2023) to up to 2.60 euros by the start of the 2025 timetable year (December 15, 2025) – an increase of 113 percent.
“The InfraGO is making a false start,” says Westenberger. For years, the operator of the railways has been characterized by high costs with poor quality and a lack of understanding for railway companies. With the re-establishment of a public welfare-oriented infrastructure company, the industry had hoped for a change in thinking. “Instead, it is becoming clear that the competitive conditions for rail compared to trucks are deteriorating faster and more severely than ever before.” It is the profit-oriented logic of DB Netz that continues even with the supposedly public welfare-oriented InfraGO.
Concerns about cargo losses to the road
The Federal Network Agency will discuss the approval of higher track prices tomorrow in a public oral hearing. In the medium term, the cost spiral can only be stopped by reforming the track pricing system in the Railway Regulatory Act (ERegG). Until then, rail freight transport faces significant cargo losses to trucks without sufficient track price subsidies.
Photo: © Loginfo24
