DB InfraGO Profit Cut Approved to Soften Rail Fee Increases Across Germany

Germany eases infrastructure fee growth by cutting DB InfraGO’s equity interest rate to prevent rising passenger and freight costs.

Members of Germany’s ruling coalition in the Bundestag have proposed a legislative amendment aimed at curbing the increase in rail infrastructure fees paid by railway operators. The Bundestag has approved the change, which reduces the permitted return on equity for DB InfraGO, the subsidiary responsible for managing the national rail infrastructure.

The move is intended to limit cost growth for operators and ease the pressure on passenger ticket prices. The bill must still be approved by the Bundesrat, the upper house of Parliament representing Germany’s federal states.

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Quick Fix Needed, but Structural Reform Still Unavoidable

Reducing DB InfraGO’s return on equity from 5.2% to 1.9% will lower the company’s financial burden and help stabilise access charges for rail operators. The rail freight association Die Güterbahnen described the decision as a "breakthrough for the railway sector," stressing that infrastructure remains the backbone of transport transformation.

Oliver Smock of Die Güterbahnen has long argued that the issue of access fees is a purely domestic, German problem that can be resolved quickly. He pointed out that the excessive profitability requirements imposed on DB InfraGO are inappropriate, as its main task should be infrastructure management and modernisation, not profit generation.

Without the legislative change, DB InfraGO’s profit this year would have exceeded €1 billion. Even after the adjustment, it will remain around €500 million. "That is still far too high, especially considering the low quality of service DB InfraGO currently provides to railway operators," Smock said. He argued that the company’s profit margin should be set "exactly at zero," matching that of competing operators.

Smock also described DB InfraGO’s returns as "a kind of budgetary illusion," since profits transferred from the state-owned company to the federal government have to be offset by increased federal subsidies for infrastructure use.

EVG Calls for Higher Subsidies to Support Modal Shift

Martin Roggermann from the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) recently told the Bundestag that the federal government must increase subsidies for rail infrastructure access charges, which are channelled to DB InfraGO as compensation for lower tariffs granted to freight operators.

The government currently plans to allocate €265 million for this purpose next year, but Roggermann believes the subsidy should be at least €350 million. To achieve the modal shift from road to rail promised in the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition agreement, he said access charges should be cut by half, requiring €450 million in annual state funding.

Roggermann added that Germany is one of the few European countries where the railway sector is burdened with full infrastructure costs, which far exceed actual wear and tear. These costs, he warned, ultimately weigh on passengers, freight operators, and the wider economy.

Industry End-Users Demand Structural Change

During a Bundestag hearing on the proposed amendment, Gudrun Grunenberg, Head of Logistics and Transport at BASF, warned that without intervention, access charges could rise by 35%, contradicting the federal government’s goal of shifting freight from road to rail. Grunenberg called for stronger financial support for DB InfraGO’s investment capacity and proposed that infrastructure charges be regularly updated alongside medium-term planning, covering five to six years. The medium-term target, she said, should be €2 per kilometre for a standard freight train.

Similarly, Tilman Benzing from the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) supported further reductions in access fees. "Railway infrastructure operated for public benefit should not have a legally mandated profitability target," he stated. He noted that the federal government does not expect profits from the highway company Autobahn GmbH or the Waterways and Inland Navigation Authority. According to Benzing, a fundamental reform of the rail access charge system should be based on marginal cost pricing, reflecting only the direct costs related to train operations.

DB InfraGO Warns Against Isolated Reform

At the same hearing, Jens Bergmann, CFO and Management Board Member of DB InfraGO, explained that the infrastructure operator remains neutral on the proposed reduction, provided it becomes part of a comprehensive reform of the financial and regulatory framework for rail.

Bergmann cautioned that reducing the allowed equity return in isolation would have only a limited effect on price moderation and would shift financial risks onto DB InfraGO, which lacks the means to offset them without regulatory reform. He suggested that the short-term moderation of access charge growth in 2026 should continue to be managed through targeted subsidies, compensating DB InfraGO for reduced fees charged to freight operators.