A Cologne Administrative Court ruling on 1 October will push German rail freight track access charges up by as much as 75% when the December timetable change takes effect, industry association Die Güterbahnen has calculated.

The court reversed a Federal Network Agency decision that had capped infrastructure manager DB InfraGO's total cost ceiling at around €7.3 billion in June. The new ceiling now stands at approximately €8.2 billion, opening roughly €900 million of additional annual TAC revenue for the state-owned infrastructure manager.

For freight operators, the financial hit compounds. Germany plans to cut federal TAC subsidies from €345 million this year to €200 million in the next timetable year. Die Güterbahnen calculates the net effect: a 75% jump in track access charges for rail freight between the two timetable periods.

What triggered the court ruling?

The Cologne judges ruled that the Federal Network Agency erred in factoring a cost-reducing subsidy agreement between DB InfraGO and the federal government into the 2026 cost ceiling. That agreement has not yet been concluded; it is expected only at the end of 2026.

Because the subsidy does not yet exist, the court reasoned, it cannot reduce the infrastructure manager's allowable cost base. The agency therefore lifted the €7.3 billion cap, restoring the ceiling to roughly €8.2 billion and clearing the path for the higher revenue.

The total cost ceiling determines the maximum amount of TAC that DB InfraGO can collect across all train categories. A higher ceiling does not automatically translate into a 75% rail-freight increase; that figure also includes the federal subsidy cut that takes effect in December.

How much more will freight operators pay?

DB InfraGO can now chase up to €8.2 billion in TAC revenue per timetable period, up from the €7.3 billion limit the agency had imposed in June. The standard-segment TAC rise will sit at no less than 12.5%, with other segments likely to follow in proportion.

Germany's federal subsidy of track access charges will fall from €345 million this year to €200 million next. The combined ceiling increase and subsidy cut translate, Die Güterbahnen says, into a 75% year-on-year jump in charges paid by rail freight operators across the network.

The standard segment covers most regular freight and passenger services. Heavy-haul, regional and local segments face their own TAC schedules, and operators expect proportional adjustments once DB InfraGO publishes its revised tariff tables for the December timetable.

What does the industry say?

"This decision reflects a systemic failure," Die Güterbahnen Managing Director Neele Wesseln said. "Despite promises, the federal government has failed to reform the track access charge system, forcing political disputes to be settled in court."

Wesseln accused the network agency of at least trying to limit infrastructure cost growth but said current legislation blocks that effort. Federal funds and TAC revenues are draining into "a black hole of personnel and construction costs, without railway companies receiving any improvement to the network," she added.

Die Güterbahnen represents private rail freight operators in Germany. Its warning echoes a long-running complaint that rising TACs erode rail's cost advantage against road haulage, where diesel energy duty remains lower and infrastructure charges are paid through road tolls rather than per-train fees.

What does the ruling change for shippers and forwarders?

TACs are a fixed input cost that freight operators pass on to customers in their per-tonne and per-train rates. A 75% rise on the access component of every German rail movement will tighten the cost gap between rail and road haulage.

For modal-shift policy, the timing is awkward. Berlin has set ambitious targets to move freight from road to rail to meet climate goals. A December surcharge on every train run on DB InfraGO works in the opposite direction.

Die Güterbahnen has warned that rail freight volumes will fall further without reform. Falling volumes erode the unit economics of train operations, which could feed back into higher rates for shippers and forwarders tendering German domestic and cross-border freight.

What comes next?

The subsidy agreement between DB InfraGO and the federal government remains scheduled for the end of 2026. Once concluded, the Federal Network Agency will revisit the cost ceiling and could in principle cap TAC revenue at a lower level.

Until then, rail freight operators face a December surcharge on every train run on DB InfraGO's network. Wesseln's warning is blunt: without reform, traffic will fall further and worsen the very cost spiral the agency was trying to contain.