Competition Symposium

Symposium on
Competition & Regulation
in the Rail Sector

Geopolitical tensions, climate change, low economic growth, declining competitiveness, ageing infrastructure and staff shortages – these are some of the major challenges that Germany and Europe are facing at this time. If we are to ramp up competitiveness and growth, catch up with high infrastructure demands, and continue to promote decarbonisation, high levels of investment will be essential.

Rail must become a pioneer of transformation. This has to happen for us to achieve our transport and climate policy goals. At the Symposium on Competition & Regulation in the Rail Sector on 30 January 2025, we want to discuss which important steps have already been taken towards building a strong rail sector at European and national level and what still needs to be done.

It is undisputed that a robust infrastructure and sufficient capacity are the foundation required for competitive and appealing rail transport. In Germany, federal resources granted for rail infrastructure have been significantly increased in recent years. As the financing architecture has developed, more fundamental and targeted measures have been adopted to make rail more efficient.

Further steps are required to ensure that the measures introduced are sustainable and are continued in a way that makes sense. There is a consensus in the industry that we must succeed in stabilising infrastructure funding in the long term, in ensuring the efficient use of funds, in making user funding more competitive, and in making better use of infrastructure capacities. We will discuss how all this can be achieved with experts in a panel discussion.