{"id":518441,"date":"2026-08-24T19:58:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T09:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=73739"},"modified":"2026-08-24T19:58:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T09:58:56","slug":"germany-wants-an-additional-e112-million-in-track-access-charges-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=518441","title":{"rendered":"Germany wants an additional \u20ac112 million in track access charges next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

German rail freight is going to pay up in 2027. At least, that is if the rail infrastructure manager DB InfraGO gets what it wants. It has applied for a 12.6% increase in track access charges for the next timetable year for the standard freight segment. Still, the final kilometre price for 2027 will likely remain unclear until the last moment.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>DB InfraGO submitted its price proposal for 2027 on Thursday 20 August. For a standard freight train, the German infrastructure manager wants a kilometre free of \u20ac3.92. Currently, this price is set at \u20ac3.48.<\/p>\n

If Germany were to accept such a price increase, rail freight companies would end up paying approximately \u20ac112 million more in track access charges (TACs) next year.<\/p>\n

The German rail freight association Die G\u00fcterbahnen is clearly disappointed with the proposal. \u201cFreight transport is being made a pawn by an infrastructure operator that is not being politically controlled\u201d, says its senior consultant Oliver Smock.<\/p>\n

\u201cRail freight, of all sectors, which has had to cope with consistent declines in traffic over the past three years, is once again slated to face the highest percentage price increases\u201d, Smock continues. \u201cThis more than negates the relief<\/a> that was only recently achieved through the new price approval for 2026, especially since the federal government intends to recoup up to 40 million euros of this relief by cutting track access charge subsidies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ordering without knowing the price<\/h2>\n

The absence of clarity on track access charges is a major issue for German rail freight. Companies have been ordering their track access slots for the new timetable year since as early as March, says Smock. However, they have no idea what the cost picture will look like once 2027 arrives.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the problems that have been known for years, it is simply incomprehensible that the Federal Ministry of Transport has yet to present a viable plan for how to control cost increases and the unpredictability of track access charges\u201d, Smock adds.<\/p>\n

Die G\u00fcterbahnen explains that rail freight will likely remain in the dark about pricing until the very last moment. This is due to a lawsuit that DB InfraGO currently has going on and because of the absence of a reformed German TAC system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

German rail freight is going to pay up in 2027. At least, that is if the rail infrastructure manager DB InfraGO gets what it wants.\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,6974,1096,82,471,78,47,1348],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-518441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-db-infrago","category-die-guterbahnen","category-germany","category-news","category-rail-freight","category-rail-news","category-track-access-charges","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t