The new German government has approved its first budget. For rail freight, the key question on the table were subsidies for track access charges (TAC). Would the government step forward and lower costs for the sector? Or would it let the opportunity slide?
The answer to that question is spoiled by the headline of the article: Germany’s budget has made no chances to TAC subsidies. Neele Wesseln, Managing Director of Germany’s private rail freight association Die Güterbahnen, was quick to comment on the matter: “Despite all the warnings, the federal government is refusing to increase track access charge subsidies, thereby missing an opportunity to send a clear signal about the competitiveness of rail” she said.
“Anyone who seriously wants to shift traffic from road to rail must fundamentally reform the track access charging system.” Germany’s TAC system is notoriously complex and favours local passenger rail over freight and long-distance passenger traffic. The last two bear a disproportionate amount of the costs.
“Until this reform is implemented, significantly higher track access subsidies would have been absolutely essential. Instead, the federal government is responsible for massive misguided incentives in the system.”
DB InfraGO wants higher TACs
To make matters worse for German rail freight, the country’s infrastructure manager DB InfraGO has applied for a 24% TAC increase in 2026. “For our members, it is now a matter of survival”, comments Wesseln. According to Die Güterbahnen, such an increase would be“not out of necessity”, but rather “to reap high profits from the rail network.”
“The industry’s last hope lies in the planned law to reduce [DB InfraGO’s] profit claims, which will be debated […] next Wednesday”, says Wesseln. “However, the ‘moderate’ reduction in returns provided for in the bill is not enough. Relief will only come when DB InfraGO is finally operated consistently in the public interest and without profit. Rail is a public good – and must no longer be allowed to degenerate into a profit machine that drives transport away from rail.”