• The Hamburg Regional Court, in its judgment of 1 December 2023, fully upheld a lawsuit filed by an independent operator, prohibiting the in-house online rail ticket sales vendors of the state-owned rail incumbent Deutsche Bahn (DB) from using certain filter options which led to misleading search results.
• It confirms that DB’s in-house online rail ticket sales vendors are market-dominant in Germany – and by deliberately suppressing competing long-distance competitors this has had a direct and lasting negative effect on competition – because booking a train ticket requires the search and comparison of visible offers.

The judgement stresses how it is apparent that nothing has changed regarding the absolutely dominant market position of DB’s in-house online rail ticket sales vendors, compared to when this was already established by the Federal Cartel Office back in 2016.

Furthermore, it states how the suppression of a large part of the long-distance services carried out by a competitor to DB’s in-house long-distance operator has had a direct and lasting effect on competition – because booking a train ticket requires the search and comparison of visible offers.

The judgement also emphasises how, in the eyes of the public, DB’s travel information media encompass the entire long-distance rail transport offering – including the services of competing long-distance operators.

In addition – and contrary to DB’s argumentation – it highlights how consumers do not expect information to be solely limited to the services of DB’s in-house long-distance rail operator. Instead, passengers are interested in complete information.

The judgement is not final, as DB can still appeal against the judgement, which would have to be permitted by the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court.

“This court judgement confirms that unless the market dominant online in-house sales channels of state-owned rail incumbents are regulated to sell all operators, then there will never be passenger rail market liberalisation in Germany or Europe“.

ALLRAIL Secretary General Nick Brooks

“Both the Multimodal Digital Mobility Services at EU level and the creation of the Mobility Data Act at German level must now be driven forward. This cannot be left to the courts and the Federal Cartel Office alone. It is now abundantly clear that there is a need for regulation“.

Dr Matthias Stoffregen, Managing Director of the German independent passenger rail association mofair

The obvious solution is to put the passengers first: All Rail Tickets Must Be Bookable at All Rail Ticket Vendors. Such a policy works well for independent rail ticket vendors too because – if the commercial terms are fair and non-discriminatory – then they can be successful as well, as we have witnessed in the United Kingdom and in Finland.