Germany’s state-owned rail incumbent Deutsche Bahn (DB) is often held up as a role model of a vertically integrated rail body – managing track and trains together. But the facts tell a different story.

ALLRAIL Board Director Tom Buchhold, ALLRAIL Secretary General Nick Brooks and some other passenger rail sector colleagues took part in the 25th Florence Rail Forum co-organised by the Transport Area of the Florence School of Regulation together with the European Commission’s DG MOVE, about the topic of the Evaluation of the Recast Directive establishing the Single EU Railway Area.

Yesterday, the Austrian state-owned rail incumbent Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) was on strike. Since the incumbent rail operator and infrastructure manager are vertically integrated in Austria, it led to the infrastructure manager being on strike as well. Therefore, ÖBB's competitors such as WESTbahn and RegioJet were unable to operate their trains even though they were not on strike.

The vertical integration of rail infrastructure managers and market dominant rail operators does not work, as we have seen in many examples in recent years, such as in France, which has some of the highest track access fees in Europe.

Instead, it is unbundling that drives innovation, quality, efficiency and jobs. With coalition negotiations taking place in Germany right now, it is crucial to have a rail infrastructure there that is focused on the public interest - and not the interests of operators within the same holding company. A new 2^nd Rail Reform in Germany is urgently necessary.