Competition Symposium

Symposium on Competition & Regulation in the Rail Sector, January 29, 2026

The rail sector is under great pressure to modernize and transform, with a considerable backlog of investment in infrastructure throughout Europe. At the same time, the strategic importance of rail is greater than ever before, as its systemic relevance has been clearly demonstrated in the multiple crises of recent years.

In Germany, customers' expectations of rail quality are often not being met. Federal Transport Minister Schnieder has set out three pillars for the turnaround with the "Agenda for satisfied customers on the railways": Reforms at Deutsche Bahn, measures by the Federal Government and the activation of the sector. At the same time, European transport policy is providing impetus for greater efficiency and cross-border connections with initiatives such as the new Capacity Regulation, the Military Mobility Package and the Action Plan for High-Speed Rail.

On January 29, 2026, we shed light on specific implementation requirements and the need to adapt the legal framework in order to strengthen the railways. Central questions were: How can the infrastructure be consistently renovated while keeping ongoing operations stable? How can adequate and predictable infrastructure financing be ensured? How can the framework for track access charging be developed in such a way that the efficiency of transport and infrastructure companies is guaranteed? What measures can be taken to noticeably and efficiently improve quality and punctuality for customers? How can intelligent capacity management be used to increase the reliability of the rail system?

Together with experts from the industry and politics, we discussed how we could tackle these complex tasks in the interests of a customer-oriented future.