Philipp Nagl, head of DB Infrago, has cautioned against granting special conditions to the Italian train operator Italo in the German long-distance transport market starting in 2028. According to Nagl, who spoke to Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, there is a real risk of getting entangled in endless legal proceedings. He noted that the old multi-year framework agreements from 2017 are no longer viable, as they were too complex and fragile. A new, legally binding regulatory framework from the EU Capacity Regulation will not be available until 2031. For this reason, he believes it is unwise to force short-term interim solutions now.
Nagl described a proposed short-term “new traffic clause” for Italo as being legally extremely uncertain, pointing out that currently nothing comparable exists in Europe. He warned that by granting route allocations under rules that could be struck down by courts as illegal under EU law in eighteen months, they risk creating extreme market instability-which he considers the worst possible outcome for everyone involved.
Nevertheless, Nagl expressed his fundamental conviction that competition should function well even in long-distance transport. As an infrastructure operator, he stated that he does not care about the color of the trains, emphasizing that competition must ultimately benefit the passengers.
