German regulator caps DB's share of long-distance train paths at 60–75%

On sections with a designated capacity ceiling, from the 2028 timetable period for example in the Munich and Frankfurt nodes, DB InfraGO may in case of conflict allocate at most 60 to 75% of long-distance capacity to DB Fernverkehr or a single operator, so that at least one competitor can actually run; the clause applies only to regular-interval services (at least four trips a day at two-hour intervals at the same minute past the hour). The trigger was a complaint by Italo, which wants to offer open-access long-distance services in Germany from April 2028.

On 17 July 2026 the Bundesnetzagentur adopted, in essence unchanged, the competitor clause for long-distance passenger rail that it had presented on 30 June 2026, after weighing the opinions of the rail infrastructure advisory council, the Federal Cartel Office and the Monopolies Commission. On sections with a designated capacity ceiling, DB InfraGO may allocate at most 60 to 75% of capacity to a single operator when train-path requests conflict, and it sets the exact figure itself; regional and freight services remain protected. The trigger was a complaint by the Italian rail company Italo, which plans from April 2028 to run 56 mostly daily trips, including Munich–Cologne–Dortmund hourly and Munich–Berlin every two hours. DB InfraGO must write the clause into its network usage conditions and submit a draft to the regulator in autumn 2026; it takes effect when the 2028 timetable is drawn up in 2027. DB InfraGO filed a lawsuit against the decision on 14 August 2026 and announced an application for interim relief; it sees risks for capacity management and points out that in the 2026 working timetable 5,253 of 5,605 path conflicts were settled by mutual agreement through small time shifts. (LOK Report, 30 Jun, 17 Jul and 14 Aug 2026)