Rail travelers could face higher ticket prices – with fewer services. The reason for this is the rising costs of using the rails. Apparently there is already a list of connections that could be eliminated.
Deutsche Bahn’s long-distance services are facing more expensive tickets and fewer connections due to sharply rising track prices. As things stand, long-distance trains will have to pay 17.7 percent more for using the rail network from the end of the year. If this is passed on directly to the DB subsidiary, “reductions in services and an increase in ticket prices will be unavoidable,” the company said in response to a report in the magazine Spiegel. As a result, this means “that DB Fernverkehr AG can no longer afford poorly utilized trains and the service will have to be reduced accordingly.”
Cut list with under-utilized connections?
According to Spiegel, the number of intercity trains available could be reduced nationwide next year. Citing a letter from Deutsche Bahn to the Federal Network Agency, the news magazine reports that Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are particularly affected, with several cities no longer being able to be served.
According to the magazine, long-distance trains are available on the following routes:
- Karlsruhe – Stuttgart – Aalen – Crailsheim – Nuremberg – Leipzig (Intercity line 61)
- Gera – Weimar – Erfurt – Gotha – Kassel – Dortmund – Cologne (Intercity line 51)
- Norddeich Mole – Oldenburg – Bremen – Hanover – Magdeburg – Köthen – Leipzig (Intercity line 56)
In addition, according to information from the magazine, the number of ICE trains to Stralsund on the Baltic Sea could be significantly reduced in the off-season. The Intercity and ICE trains affected are therefore among the least used trains operated by Deutsche Bahn.
An end to the also poorly used Intercity connection from Dresden to Rostock was apparently stopped by political pressure, it said.
“No concrete plans”
DB rejected the Spiegel report. According to Deutsche Bahn, the company has not yet decided whether or which connections will be eliminated. “There are currently no concrete plans to cancel the long-distance connections mentioned,” said long-distance passenger transport director Michael Peterson, according to a statement. “We completed our planning for the 2025 timetable in April. This timetable does not currently include any of the service cuts mentioned.” However, due to the rising track access prices, the company is forced to “review the scope of our timetable offering nationwide.”
The Federal Ministry of Transport also denied any route cancellations: “We do not have any concrete information about any thinning out of certain routes,” said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Transport. The federal government, as the owner of the railway, has an interest in “ensuring that rail passenger transport runs smoothly throughout Germany, and that includes ensuring that no region is left behind.” This was also clearly communicated to the railway.
The passenger association Pro Bahn criticised the possible cancellations. “You can’t just stop long-distance traffic and let people take local transport to the next town,” said federal chairman Detlef Neuß. tagesschau.de. If the whole thing doesn’t make economic sense, the state will have to add more money – it’s about providing basic services. “We need a sufficient supply across the region.”
Additional costs due to higher interest rates?
According to Spiegel, the reason for the threatened cuts is the planned increase in equity at Deutsche Bahn. Equity basically describes all of a company’s financial resources that belong to the owners themselves, as opposed to debt capital – in the case of Deutsche Bahn, the state. The federal government wants to increase equity by up to 20 billion euros in the coming years in order to renew the dilapidated rail network. The advantage of this is that an increase in equity is a so-called balance sheet extension and therefore does not fall under the much-cited debt brake.
However, the increase means higher interest rates for the group, which the DB infrastructure company InfraGo has to pay. As a result, the company expects unexpected additional costs of almost one billion euros for 2026 alone, as the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported at the end of May, citing correspondence between the rail subsidiary and the Federal Network Agency. InfraGo will get the money back through the track access charges that all companies have to pay for using the infrastructure – including Deutsche Bahn itself.
The Federal Network Agency recently approved a significant increase in track access charges for 2025 – on average by six percent compared to the previous year. Due to a legal regulation, regional transport cannot be burdened as heavily – so the increases will be passed on primarily to long-distance and freight transport. According to current figures, track access charges for long-distance transport will increase by 17.7 percent in 2025.
Federal government subsidises track charges considerably less
The increase in track access charges to the extent announced “poses considerable challenges for DB Fernverkehr AG” and “cannot be compensated for in view of the currently challenging economic situation,” said today’s DB announcement. Other rail operators have also recently complained about this and some have filed lawsuits – especially in freight transport. Clemens Först, the spokesman for the Rail Cargo Group’s board of directors, warned of a “toxic mix.” In addition to the dilapidated infrastructure and the many construction sites, there is now also a massive increase in costs. “This means a shift in freight transport to the road,” said Först.
Even before this price increase, costs had risen because the federal government’s subsidy for track access charges was cut from 350 million to 180 million euros at the end of last year. Together with the planned increase in track access charges, this will almost double the costs. For Peter Westenberger from Netzwerk Bahn eV, the consequences are foreseeable: “Trucks will take on more of the traffic load in the future.”
Pro Bahn is also against an increase in track access charges. “In times of a transport transition, this is incomprehensible,” said federal chairman Neuß. This is particularly problematic for rail operators who are not part of the Deutsche Bahn group. “For Deutsche Bahn, it’s actually left pocket, right pocket.” As an alternative, Neuß is calling for the state to provide more counter-financing for the infrastructure. “If Deutsche Bahn gets more money, there’s no need to increase track access charges.” However, the federal government must “keep a competent eye on the group” if this happens.
According to Pro Bahn, DB needs much more money for infrastructure
In fact, this is precisely one point of criticism of the higher equity allocation. The fear is that if the money comes, the railway can spend it according to its own interests. According to DB, the 2024 federal budget, the current financial plan up to 2027 and the DB’s own contribution for the period from 2024 to 2027 provide for additional funds totaling around 27 billion euros.
However, the identified additional financing requirement for rail up to 2027 amounts to a total of 45 billion euros. Pro Bahn also believes that the sum is “far too low”. “We estimate that 60 to 90 billion euros would be needed over the coming years to renew the rail network,” said Neuß.
In addition, another billion euros from the budget originally intended for the railways are to be shifted to the maintenance and renovation of dilapidated motorways and bridges. Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) wants to use the money to plug the budget hole at Autobahn GmbH, according to various sources.
With information from Till Bücker, ARD finance editor.