Germany's high-speed market is open. The network is not.
Three operators have committed to entering Germany’s long-distance rail market by 2028. Whether any of them can depends on a structural gap in DB InfraGO’s network access rules that Bundesnetzagentur is now investigating.
By Dan Jensen
Italo filed a formal complaint in January, challenging priority rules in DB InfraGO’s network access conditions that systematically disadvantage new entrants. The regulator expanded the procedure beyond Italo’s specific request — it is now reviewing whether DB InfraGO’s access rules are lawful at all.
The access problem every new entrant shares
Germany’s long-distance rail market has been open to competition since the Bahnreform of 1994 — FlixTrain has operated on it since 2018. What it has not had, since 2017, is the mechanism that makes large-scale entry viable: long-term path agreements.
Framework contracts existed until the 2017 timetable period, when a change in Germany’s railway regulation law — following an EU ruling — led the then DB Netz to discontinue them. Without them, operators can only secure train paths through the annual timetable process — one year at a time, with no guarantee of renewal. For an operator considering a EUR 1.2bn rolling stock order, that is not a planning basis.
DB InfraGO planned to reintroduce framework contracts from the 2028/2029 timetable period. Industry opposition — led in particular by FlixTrain — caused it to step back from that plan. A separate consultation concluded in April 2026 confirmed the scale of resistance: all operators except two Italian ones opposed reintroduction before the 2031/2032 timetable period.
Under the EU’s new Capacity Management Regulation, multi-year path allocation will be required from December 2030 — but that is too late for a 2028 launch.
Bundesnetzagentur is not waiting. After Italo filed its complaint in January, the regulator expanded the procedure into a general review of whether DB InfraGO’s access rules are lawful at all.
Three operators, three different bets
Italo has moved furthest. The Italian private operator has established a German subsidiary, obtained a rail licence, and negotiated a contract with Siemens Mobility for 26 Velaro high-speed trainsets — option on 14 more — at EUR 1.2bn. According to Italo chief executive Gianbattista La Rocca, the contract must be signed by June or the planned 2028 launch becomes unviable. Two corridors, 18 cities, up to 56 daily services.
FlixTrain is already in the market. The rail arm of Flix SE operates on annual path allocations and has placed a firm order for 30 Talgo 230 trainsets at EUR 1.06bn, within a framework for up to 65 in total, for Germany-only deployment from 2028.
The trains run at 230 km/h, below Italo’s Velaro specification, hauled by leased Siemens Vectron locomotives. International ambitions announced alongside the order were quietly dropped seven months later.
Netinera, the FS Group-owned regional operator, tendered for up to 50 long-distance trains in May 2025. No contract has been awarded. The programme is unresolved.
Why FlixTrain objected to Italo
FlixTrain has raised concerns about Italo’s application for long-term path access. FlixTrain and Italo operate at different speeds with different service models, but compete for capacity on the same congested corridors.
The concern is straightforward: capacity. Long-term path allocations granted to Italo would bind slots that FlixTrain also needs from 2028. Both operators need the same structural reform to make their investments viable.
DB InfraGO argued at the 22 May hearing that neither EU law nor German railway regulation provides a basis for structurally favouring new entrants. New operators, it said, do not create new capacity — they intensify existing scarcity.
What the regulator is actually deciding
The Bundesnetzagentur ruling is not just about Italo’s complaint. The regulator is deciding whether DB InfraGO’s access rules are lawful as written — and whether framework contracts must be reintroduced before December 2030.
Italo’s EUR 1.2bn rolling stock order, FlixTrain’s 30 firm trainsets, and Netinera’s unresolved tender all depend on the same answer. If the regulator rules against DB InfraGO, the structural barrier falls. If it rules for DB InfraGO, the 2028 timeline for all three becomes harder to sustain — regardless of how many billions have already been pledged.