German rail freight operators will pay €3.17 per train-kilometre in 2027, up 75% from €1.82 in 2026, after infrastructure manager DB InfraGO confirmed a 12.9% increase in track access charges (TAC) for the freight segment.

The rise sits inside a €7.5 billion revenue application DB InfraGO submitted following a 1 October court ruling that cleared an upper cost ceiling of €8.2 billion for the coming year. The freight increase outpaces the rises imposed on passenger services: 7.7% for regional rail passenger transport and 5% for long-distance operators.

DB InfraGO, the infrastructure arm of Deutsche Bahn, determines the maximum track access charge level that the infrastructure manager can demand. A higher upper cost limit permits higher charges for operators using the German network.

What does the ruling change?

A court decision on 1 October authorised DB InfraGO to set an upper cost limit of €8.2 billion for 2027 — a higher ceiling than previously in force. DB InfraGO chose not to pursue the maximum, requesting €7.5 billion instead, equivalent to a 7.9% overall increase across all rail segments.

The final level could still drop if the federal government allocates additional maintenance funding, the infrastructure manager said.

How big is the hit for freight?

For freight operators, the confirmed 12.9% figure lands marginally above the 12.6% minimum threshold that Die Güterbahnen had warned would be unavoidable from any meaningful TAC rise. When subsidies are netted out, freight's effective per-kilometre charge rises from €1.82 to €3.17 — a 75% jump year-on-year.

Die Güterbahnen, which represents Germany's private freight operators, had publicly criticised the trajectory before DB InfraGO's filing.

What does 2028 hold?

The outlook for 2028 is more severe. DB InfraGO will file next year's TAC application "at the end of the week" with a preliminary target revenue of €8.588 billion, citing continuing uncertainty over maintenance funding and the 2028 upper cost ceiling.

The €8.588 billion figure is provisional. Under that scenario, rail freight would face an additional 14.3% increase on top of the 2027 rise, deepening the cost pressure on operator margins.

Can subsidies ease the impact?

Die Güterbahnen senior consultant Oliver Smock argued that the cycle of cost, volume and infrastructure use is already tightening. "With each further price increase, the spiral of rising costs, declining traffic volumes, and poorer infrastructure utilization intensifies," Smock said.

Smock called for a significant rise in track access charge subsidies to limit further freight decline, but framed the support as transitional only. "Until a fundamental reform is implemented, a significant increase in track access charge subsidies is needed in the short term to limit the further decline of rail freight," he said.

"However, such subsidies can only be a temporary solution until Germany follows the example of most European countries and ensures genuine stability and competitive track access charges with a reformed system."

He added: "Even the Ministry of Transport cannot simply wait this situation out indefinitely."

The Ministry of Transport has offered no interim measure beyond existing programmes. Whether the €8.588 billion 2028 filing becomes the basis for a final figure will depend on the federal budget for track maintenance and the outcome of any structural reform of the TAC regime.

Smock's comments underline the industry's call for structural change alongside any short-term subsidy intervention. A final 2028 tariff schedule, together with the broader federal budget debate, will shape whether rail freight operators absorb a second consecutive double-digit increase.