Ministry of Transport responds to open letter from the combined transport industry
Author: Michael Cordes | Translated from German
11.11.2025 | There will be no reduction of track access charges to €0 in 2026. Here's what the Federal Ministry of Transport has to say about the further demands of the combined transport operators and European associations.
The Federal Ministry of Transport has responded to the open letter of October 29th from major combined transport operators and European associations to Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder and DB CEO Evelyn Palla. Regarding the demand for a freeze on track access charges in 2026, a spokesperson told DVZ that the government has introduced a draft law that is currently going through the parliamentary process. "If this is passed, the increase in track access charges for rail freight could be mitigated to an average of 11 to 17 percent," the spokesperson said. An increase of up to 35 percent had originally been under consideration.
Will support come from revenue generated by the LuFV penalty?
A total of €265 million in federal funds is available for track access charge subsidies in 2026. However, the industry had requested €350 million. "Whether a further increase can be achieved remains subject to parliamentary procedure," said the spokesperson. The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is advocating during the 2026 budget negotiations for increasing track access charge subsidies through additional revenue from LuFV penalties (LuFV = Performance and Financing Agreement).
These are funds that DB InfraGo must repay to the federal government if agreed-upon targets are not met. This is also the subject of a proposal from the Federal Ministry of Finance. The spokesperson declined to comment further on the potential amount of these penalties.
Instead of 90 percent, at least 80 percent capacity?
Another demand in the letter was for a capacity guarantee of at least 90 percent of current transport capacity during the corridor renovation and at all construction sites. The spokesperson stated that DB InfraGo had been tasked with examining whether at least 80 percent of regular transport capacity could be maintained on diversions. The results of this examination are still pending.
Furthermore, the operators and associations demanded in the letter that diversionary routes be upgraded. They argued that the same parameters regarding train length, weight, and profile should apply to these routes as to the main lines. "In the short term, maintenance and minor replacement measures are the most feasible options here in anticipation of corridor upgrades," the spokesperson said. For later corridor upgrades, traffic could also be diverted via already upgraded routes.
Same parameters no longer reachable on diversion routes
"The extent to which diversion routes have the same parameters as the main routes cannot be influenced by the Federal Ministry of Transport," the spokesperson stated. The decisive factors here are the operational planning of DB InfraGo and limitations on the length of the selected diversion routes. However, an expansion to ensure identical parameters on both diversion routes and the main routes is simply not feasible from a time perspective.
Furthermore, the signatories of the letter claimed an operational hardship allowance for substandard track sections during the corridor upgrades. The ministry employee countered: "The sector's argument fails to consider the savings resulting from shorter closure periods during a single corridor upgrade compared to multiple shorter closures."
A complete closure is more advantageous compared to conventional track rehabilitation.
All economic analyses for the corridor upgrades reviewed by the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) to date have shown that the bundled upgrade approach is more advantageous than conventional track upgrades carried out while trains are running. The number and duration of track closures are significantly lower overall. Therefore, the disruption to rail freight caused by corridor upgrades is less than that caused by conventional track upgrades.
Furthermore, the BMV spokesperson drew attention to the federal government's strained financial situation. Given the limited budget, additional funding beyond existing instruments such as track access charge subsidies for rail freight transport does not appear possible.
Changes in cancellation fees
Regarding the cancellation fees requested by the signatories of the letter, the spokesperson referred to DB InfraGo. DB InfraGo submitted amendments to its infrastructure usage terms to the Federal Network Agency on September 2, 2025, including provisions for "fees for non-cancellation" and "penalty payments for cancellations." A decision on these amendments will be made jointly with the approval of the track access charge system in 2026.