Overview
- Italo has formally asked the Bundesnetzagentur for long‑term trackage contracts that would guarantee train paths and planning certainty for a planned 2028 launch.
- Flix has ordered about 65 new trains at an estimated cost of €2.4 billion and together with Italo and expected Westbahn entries would bring roughly 100 competitor trains to key corridors in 2028.
- Deutsche Bahn and the rail union EVG say the network is the real bottleneck and warn that unmanaged competition will let newcomers ‘cherry‑pick’ profitable city‑to‑city routes and threaten services to smaller towns.
- Transport experts and the Bundesverband Schienennahverkehr warn that adding long‑distance services on a strained network risks lower punctuality or displacement of timetable‑linked regional trains because DB InfraGo currently allocates most paths annually.
- The Bundesnetzagentur and the transport ministry must now decide whether to grant long‑term capacity guarantees or impose protections such as mandatory package deals or reserved paths to safeguard regional connections and overall system reliability.