The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a national regulation requiring the railway infrastructure manager to calculate tariffs for regional passenger rail transport using a mathematical formula prescribed by law is contrary to European law.
The judgment, delivered on March 19, 2026, concerns the German railway infrastructure charging system and interprets provisions of Directive 2012/34/EU on the establishment of a single European railway area.
What the German court challenged
The case stemmed from a dispute between DB InfraGO AG and DB RegioNetz Infrastruktur GmbH, on the one hand, and the German state, represented by the Bundesnetzagentur (German Federal Network Agency), on the other, regarding the setting of charges for the use of railway infrastructure.
According to the German legislation examined by the Court, for the regional passenger rail transport sector, the amount of the charges was to be calculated by multiplying the average charges over a reference period by a fixed annual growth rate provided for by law.
The German court asked the CJEU whether such a mechanism is compatible with Articles 4(2) and 29(1) of Directive 2012/34, which enshrine the independence of the infrastructure manager and the division of powers between the state and the manager regarding charging.
CJEU: The infrastructure manager must have real room for maneuver
The Court’s answer was clear: no. The European judges noted that, although Member States may establish a tariff framework and general rules, the infrastructure manager must retain a certain margin of discretion in setting the amount of tariffs, so that it can use tariffs as an management tool.
The Court notes that the infrastructure manager’s independence is expressly provided for by the directive and that this would be rendered meaningless if the manager’s role were reduced to merely applying a mathematical formula established in advance by the legislature.
Why the Court found that the German system violates the directive
In its judgment, the CJEU states that the German system left the infrastructure manager no real margin of maneuver to take account of cost developments or to adapt charges to market realities.
Furthermore, the Luxembourg court notes that this rigidity also created an imbalance between market segments. If regional transport fares did not cover actual costs, the operator was forced to compensate by increasing fares for long-distance passenger transport and freight transport.
According to the referring court, actual cost increases in the regional transport sector had reached 6% for the year 2025, while the legislation mandated only a fixed annual increase of 1.8%.
The Court rejects the argument regarding public funding
Another important element of the judgment is that public funding of regional transport does not justify depriving the infrastructure manager of its independence in setting tariffs.
The CJEU explicitly states that Directive 2012/34 does not provide for any derogation from the principle of the infrastructure manager’s independence merely because the sector in question receives public funds.
No time limit on the effects of the judgment
The German government and the applicant companies asked the Court to limit the effects of the judgment in time, citing economic risks and the large number of contractual relationships already in place.
The Court, however, rejected this request. The judges found that the existence of serious disruptions justifying such an exceptional limitation had not been sufficiently demonstrated.
The Implications of the Ruling
In short, the Court states that the state may set the framework, but not the exact tariff down to the last decimal point through a formula imposed by law.
For the European rail network, the message is that the infrastructure manager’s independence must exist in practice, not just on paper.
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