GERMANY’s Ministry of Transport (BMV) is considering cancelling a subsidy worth €105m towards the track access charges paid by long-distance passenger operators in 2025, even though it has already been included in the most recent federal budget.
In a joint statement released on November 3, the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and Mofair, which represents private operators, say that discussions between infrastructure manager DB InfraGO and the ministry indicate that BMV will not release this funding.
According to the statement, this last-minute withdrawal is motivated by questions over the cost-effectiveness and efficacy of the measure, following criticism made by the Federal Court of Auditors regarding a similar subsidy in 2023, even though this was widely known when the subsidy for 2025 was originally agreed.
The largest operator in the long-distance passenger market is state-owned German Rail (DB), but private operators including FlixTrain and Railroad Development Corporation (RDC) Deutschland will also be affected. All agreed track access rights with DB InfraGO on the basis that the €105m subsidy would be provided.
“The Court of Auditors’ criticism that significantly more traffic has not been shifted to rail, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, misses the point,” says VDV president, Ingo Wortmann. “Given the exorbitant track access charge increases of 17.7% for privately-operated long-distance passenger services from 2024 to 2025 alone, the primary concern is maintaining the current service.
“It is clear that without subsidies, services will have to be cut, and the less frequently-used routes will be the first to be threatened, which certainly will not help climate protection nor the economy and will be met with incomprehension by passengers.”
No comment
Neither BMV nor DB have so far publicly commented on the possible subsidy cut, but VDV and Mofair are demanding that BMV takes action to ensure that funding is released, as previously agreed.
“This is about credibility and reliability - you can't talk about more long-distance services to even the most remote medium-sized cities and then leave the economically active companies providing them out in the cold,” says Mofair president, Martin Becker-Rethmann.
