The Federal Network Agency has rescinded and newly set the rail track fees that were approved late last year for the German rail network. While track prices for long-distance passenger transport and freight transport will decrease, transportation companies operating in local and regional transport must now pay higher fees.
This change follows a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) on March 19, 2026, which declared the so-called “track price brake” for regional transport to be contrary to Union law. Previously, this regulation had limited annual increases in regional track fees, regardless of the actual infrastructure costs. Consequently, the increased costs incurred by DB InfraGO had primarily been borne by long-distance and freight services.
According to the Federal Network Agency, track fees for DB InfraGO in regional transport are now increasing by nine percent. Concurrently, fees for long-distance traffic will be reduced by 17 percent, and freight transport fees will be cut by twelve percent. Similarly, changes within the DB RegioNetz are applying: an increase of eleven percent is expected for regional services, alongside reductions of 18 percent for long-distance and 14 percent for freight.
Overall, the Federal Network Agency announced that rail-based regional transport will face an additional burden of approximately 400 million euros, while long-distance and freight transport are expected to receive similar financial relief.
