GERMANY: More than 40 regional passenger operators and the state of Bavaria have sued the Bundesnetzagentur over its decision to raise 2026 track access charges for regional services by 9%. The case was organised by Bundesverband SchienenNahverkehr, the association of regional rail authorities.
The claim was lodged on 31 August at the Cologne administrative court by lawyer Bernd Uhlenhut for the operators and Bavaria. The association, which represents the 26 public authorities that order and pay for regional passenger services, coordinated it with all 16 federal states and announced it on 1 September.
The claim targets the regulator’s decision of 22 July to annul the charges approved in December 2025 and set new ones with retroactive effect, after the Court of Justice of the EU ruled on 19 March that the statutory cap on regional track charges breached EU law.
Under the new decision, charges paid by regional services to infrastructure manager DB InfraGO rise 9%, while long-distance falls 17% and freight 12%. The regulator puts the extra burden on regional services at around EUR 400m for 2026 alone, to be settled directly between operators and the infrastructure manager. The authorities say neither they nor the states can raise the sum.
Fourth lawsuit against the regulator
The case adds a fourth front to the litigation around German track access charges. DB InfraGO is already suing the Bundesnetzagentur over its 2027 cost ceiling and over the rule that gave Italo access to its network, and has lost a first round at the same court on station charges for 2025 and 2026.
Those three cases were brought by the infrastructure manager. The new case comes from the operators that pay the charges, backed by the authorities that fund their contracts, and concerns the 22 July decision itself.
The regional authorities also dispute the method. According to the association, the calculation behind the charges is opaque and carries structural problems, and the decision to sue followed a resolution of the special conference of state transport ministers on 6 August.
Contracts signed under a price cap
Regional operators run under multi-year public service contracts with the authorities, and both sides priced those contracts on the assumption that the cap would hold.
“Nobody could have budgeted for these price jumps and back-payments, and they are now putting the companies in serious economic difficulty,” said Peter Panitz, president of the association. In the worst case, he said, authorities would have to review and cut services, although contracts limit how much can be cancelled.
The association’s legal counsel, Dirk Gründler, argued that the cap was the provision that secured the Bundesrat’s consent to the rail regulation act, and that the federal government now owes the states a substitute for it. With the cap struck down and no reform in place, he said, the states had no option but the administrative court. He rated the chances of success as very good.
Next year’s charges already in dispute
DB InfraGO applied on 14 August for its 2027 charges, which the association calculates would raise regional prices by a further 7.8% on average. The application is under review by the Bundesnetzagentur.
The federal transport ministry has started a review of the charging regime, the association said, and it offered to help develop a method that reflects the different economics of regional, long-distance and freight traffic. Until then, the association’s legal counsel said, the current system produces legal uncertainty every year.
Bavaria’s transport minister Christian Bernreiter said the state had joined the lawsuit to protect its rights and avert financial losses, and told dpa that passengers would otherwise face substantial cuts to regional services. The states demanded full compensation from the federal government at their 6 August conference. No response has been announced.