Passenger association calls for regulated rail competition as Italian operator eyes German market
Clean Energy Wire / ARD
German rail passenger association Pro Bahn has urged the German government to ensure fair competition between existing train operators in the country and Italian operator Italo, which plans to enter Germany's long-distance railway market. The passenger association emphasised that only fair and regulated competition can lower prices, strengthen quality, and lead to the expansion of services on railway tracks.
Italo plans to operate on popular routes between large cities in Germany by 2028. Pro Bahn's concerns centre on Italo competing with existing operators on these major corridors. While competition on the main routes would improve services there, it could also lead to neglecting less profitable services in more remote regions.
“We have never opposed competition on the railways; on the contrary,” said Pro Bahn deputy chair Michael Koch. However, he added that "competition is not an end in itself" but must benefit passengers across the whole country and not just those travelling on the main connections. "If Italo’s entry into the market means that three operators will compete for passengers on the most popular routes in future, whilst [peripheral regions like] Chemnitz, the Allgäu or the wider East German region remain sidelined, little will have been gained.”
The passenger association called on the German government to establish a federal authority that can regulate long-distance transport, and organise routes competitively and fairly, as this would prevent operators from only concentrating on the main lines.
About 95 percent of Germany’s train connections are operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn, with a handful of competitors operating connections especially at the regional level. Railway labour union EVG recently warned that the entry of Italo on the German market could lead to a reduction of Deutsche Bahn’s profit on the main routes, meaning it would have to cut services in at least 16 smaller cities, public broadcaster ARD reported.
Germany’s transport sector is lagging far behind most other sectors in reducing emissions, which remained largely constant for decades until the pandemic started in 2020. Green transport advocates stress the importance of boosting public transport as an alternative to cars, but the public transport passenger numbers suggest the switch made little headway last year.