Verkehr: Verband reicht Klage gegen Schienenmaut ein

Multiple railway companies, in coordination with the German Railways Association (BSN), have filed a lawsuit against the so-called rail fare for passenger transport. As the association reported, the federal state of Bavaria is also joining the legal action against the route prices, they have been coordinated with all federal states and BSN members.

The lawsuit was thus brought before the Administrative Court in Cologne. The route prices are a form of rail fare that railway companies must pay to Deutsche Bahn as the network operator for using the infrastructure. Until now, costs for regional transport had been capped - at the expense of freight and long-distance transport. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in March, however, that this price ceiling is not compatible with European law.

Consequently, the Federal Network Agency published new route prices last week, which will result in additional costs of several hundred million euros for passenger transport alone this year. According to the BSN, passenger rail transport on rails faces price increases of 9 percent and thus payments of 400 million euros for 2026.

For weeks, the states have been criticizing the situation and warning of reduced public transport services. The Verband also stated that further price increases are expected in subsequent years. The current request from the infrastructure responsible DB InfraGo would lead to an average increase rate of 7.8 percent for passenger rail transport.

The federal states have already threatened legal action for several weeks. In a joint statement, the state transport ministers lastly called on the federal government for complete financial compensation for the increased route prices. They warn that without these payments, regional transport could be discontinued. Passenger transport in Germany is ordered by the federal states, which delegate this task to 26 task bearers nationwide. The German Railways Association (BSN) represents these task bearers.