Draft legislation designed to ensure non-discriminatory access to Germany’s rail network has been put forward by the cabinet of country’s Federal Government.
The proposals would “strengthen the powers of the Federal Network Agency” and reform the current access charge regime in a bid to improve the level of competition.
Under the new system, DB Network would need to seek approval from the Federal Network Agency before imposing charges on operators.
One of the aims is to introduce incentives for operators to reduce infrastructure costs which in turn would reduce access charges. The government hopes the measures will improve the performance of rail transport overall.
Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said: “We want to strengthen competition in the rail sector. This competition ensures innovation and quality of the offer – in the interests of rail passengers. Competition needs clear, transparent rules.
“With the new rail regulation Act, we are creating this framework. The focus is on greater transparency of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and unrestricted access rights for competitors.”
