Germany’s Bundesnetzagentur has issued its final decision on infrastructure access conditions for competitors of DB Fernverkehr.
On heavily used sections officially designated as capacity-constrained, infrastructure manager DB InfraGO will generally be prevented from allocating more than 60–75% of the available long-distance passenger capacity in a given period to DB Fernverkehr or any other single operator when requests conflict.
DB InfraGO will determine the precise percentage within this range when preparing its infrastructure usage conditions. The regulator said the measure should ensure that at least one competing operator can obtain capacity and operate services on the affected routes.
“More competition has the potential to improve offers for passengers,” said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur. He added that the authority had retained the approach presented in its draft decision at the end of June after reviewing submissions from competition and rail-sector bodies.
The rules will apply to routes with formally identified capacity constraints, whose number is expected to increase. Major hubs including Munich and Frankfurt are expected to be added from the 2028 timetable period.
The decision was initially sent to DB InfraGO and Italian passenger operator Italo, the two parties to the proceedings. A public version will follow once commercially sensitive information has been removed.
DB InfraGO must now incorporate the competition clause into its infrastructure usage conditions. A draft will be submitted to the Bundesnetzagentur in autumn 2026, with the regulator retaining the power to require amendments.
The clause will apply when the 2028 working timetable is prepared during 2027.
