Traffic - Deutsche Bahn rejects report on plans to cancel
The German Railways (Deutsche Bahn) have rejected a media report about the planned cancellation of several long-distance train connections. "Currently, there are no concrete plans to cancel the mentioned long-distance train connections. We completed our planning for the timetable 2025 in April. This plan does not include any of the mentioned service reductions at present," said Michael Peterson, responsible for long-distance traffic in the Bahn board, in a statement. However, the Bahn is forced to review the scope of its timetable offer nationwide due to impending cost increases from track fees.
According to "Spiegel", a list of long-distance train connections that could be reduced or cancelled was previously reported. The magazine referred to a letter from the German Railways to the Federal Network Agency from early February. According to the report, the Intercity lines 61 (Karlsruhe - Stuttgart - Aalen - Crailsheim - Nuremberg - Leipzig), 51 (Gera – Weimar – Erfurt – Gotha – Kassel – Dortmund – Cologne), and 34 (Norddeich Mole – Münster – Dortmund – Siegen – Frankfurt) could be completely cancelled.
Regarding track fees, these are charges that the DB Infrastructure Services company InfraGo collects. All companies using the railway infrastructure, including the railway companies themselves, must pay these fees. The Federal Network Agency recently approved significant increases in track fees for 2025 - on average, an increase of six percent compared to the previous year. The reason for the high increase, according to InfraGo, is higher personnel and material costs in recent years. Due to a legal regulation, the regional traffic cannot be burdened too heavily - therefore, the increases will mainly affect the long-distance and freight traffic.
For 2025, track fees for long-distance traffic are set to increase by 17.7 percent based on the current plan. However, there are objections to this. The federal government has also indicated that it may support the companies with a special subsidy.
- The Federal Network Agency has approved significant increases in track fees for 2025, which will primarily impact German Railways' long-distance and freight traffic.
- Despite the planned increases in track fees, the German government may provide a special subsidy to support long-distance train companies.
- Michael Peterson, responsible for long-distance traffic in the Bahn board, stated that currently, there are no concrete plans to cancel the long-distance train connections mentioned in a Spiegel report, such as the Intercity lines 61, 51, and 34.
- German Railways (Deutsche Bahn) is pressured to review the scope of its timetable offer nationwide due to impending cost increases from track fees.
- The long-distance train connection from Berlin to Dortmund, which falls under the Intercity line 51, could potentially be impacted by any changes in the railway's timetable offer, according to Spiegel's report.
