Transport associations are suing against an increase in rail tolls for local transport

Transport companies pay a route fee for using the rail network. An association is now filing a lawsuit to prevent price increases in local transport.

Berlin. Numerous railway companies have filed a lawsuit together with the Federal Association of Local Rail Transport (BSN) against the so-called rail toll for local passenger transport. As the association announced, the Free State of Bavaria is also taking part in the lawsuit against the route prices; it has been coordinated with all federal states and association members. The lawsuit was therefore filed with the Cologne Administrative Court.

The route prices are a type of rail toll that transport companies have to pay to Deutsche Bahn as the network operator for the use of the infrastructure. The costs for regional transport were previously capped - at the expense of freight and long-distance transport.

However, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in March that this price cap is not compatible with European law. That's why the Federal Network Agency published new route prices two weeks ago, which mean additional costs of several hundred million euros for local passenger transport this year alone.

According to the BSN, local rail transport is facing price increases of 9 percent for 2026 and thus additional payments of 400 million euros.

“There is a risk of further price increases in the following years,” said the association. The current application from DB InfraGo, which is responsible for the infrastructure, would result in an average increase of 7.8 percent for local rail passenger transport.

The federal states have been threatening legal action for several weeks. In a joint statement, the state transport ministers recently demanded full financial compensation from the federal government for the increased route prices. They warn that the price increases could otherwise lead to traffic cancellations.

Regional transport in Germany is ordered by the federal states. They are outsourcing this task to a total of 26 authorities nationwide. The Federal Association of Local Rail Transport represents these authorities.