AOnce again, everything is happening very quickly: For years, there has been discussion about breaking up the German Railways AG, separating the rail and operations, and now the DB supervisory board will be dealing with it on Wednesday. According to information from F.A.Z., the agenda of the supervisory board includes the merger of the two DB subsidiaries, DB Netz and Station & Service, into a public-interest infrastructure company called DB Infra Go. Initially, the industry service „Tagesspiegel Background“ reported on the details of the planned railway reform. The Federal Ministry of Transport did not want to explain the plans before the upcoming supervisory board meeting.
From January onwards, the new joint-stock company is expected to start its operations – albeit under the umbrella of the DB Group, but with significant influence from both the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Supervisory Board. However, the influence of competitors – and users of the rail network – is limited in contrast. This is already causing strong opposition within the industry.
Grundsätzlichster Systemwechsel seit 1994
The central component of the railway reform is the change in direction: The railway infrastructure in Germany should no longer be operated purely for economic purposes, but rather for the common good. This means that criteria such as climate protection, customer friendliness, and punctuality will now have a weight in future decisions regarding the rail network. At the same time, the new structure aims to ensure that the federal government has much stronger control over the fate of the railway than before. Every year, an infrastructure plan will be created, in which the railway industry and its competitors can have influence through an advisory board.
However, the control and profit and loss transfer agreements between the group parent company and the infrastructure company will remain in place, and the DB board of directors will still be able to give instructions. However, the influence of the group will be limited by the fact that these instructions will now be subject to the approval of the supervisory board. It is still unclear who will lead the new company. According to the information, Berthold Huber will continue to be the responsible board member for infrastructure within the DB group.
„Offensichtlich gescheitertes Modell“
It is already clear that the new company will have significantly more financial resources than before. In light of a large-scale renovation, the coalition government has decided to provide an additional 40 billion euros to the railway over the next four years. This will allow them to invest a total of over 80 billion euros in the long-neglected rail network. Necessary repairs have been implemented half-heartedly and in multiple stages over the years, resulting in a significant backlog that is planned to be addressed over the next seven years starting in July. The federal government also wants to secure influence over the financing: potential profits from Infra Go will initially flow to the government and then be returned to the new infrastructure company with clear instructions on how they should be used.
Bundesverkehrsminister Volker Wissing (FDP) is implementing a promise made by the coalition government in the Ampelregierung to make plans for the most fundamental system change since the railway reform in 1994. Both competitors and the Green Party and FDP have desired a clear separation between operation and rail. The Monopolkommission and the Bundesrechnungshof have long been urging for this as well. However, the powerful railway union EVG, along with the SPD, have been insisting for years that the „integrated corporation“ remains intact, meaning that rail and railway operation remain within one corporation.
The union, which recently demonstrated its negotiating power in months-long wage negotiations, is concerned about a significant reduction in jobs if the company is split up. According to information from F.A.Z., it has now been agreed between the DB board and the relevant works councils that there will be no job cuts or worsening of working conditions for employees in the new company. However, the union has not shown great enthusiasm for the plans. EVG chairman Martin Burkert describes the Infra-Go plans as a „compromise“ to prevent the breakup of Deutsche Bahn: „It is crucial for us that employee interests are protected and that the promised funding for general renovation also materializes.“
The leading railway associations strongly criticized the plans. They find it completely unclear what is supposed to be oriented towards the common good in the solution that was found: Neither the future goals nor the control, financing, monitoring, or transparency of the data are more oriented towards the common good than „the obviously failed model with the two well-known DB stock corporations,“ said a joint press release from the Federal Association of Regional Railways, Freight Railways, and Mofair, an association of competitive railways in passenger rail transport.
They criticize that the DB Group should continue to have authority over Infra Go. It does not help that the supervisory board may override the vote of DB AG. „This creates completely inefficient structures that hinder a swift and independent focus on the common good.“ For the associations, it would be the worst-case scenario if, after the planned decision on Thursday, an internal reorganization within DB begins, important unresolved questions are postponed, and ultimately they may even be used as campaign material or not addressed at all.