The European Commission is preparing to ban state subsidies to the freight operator DB Cargo, which is owned by the German railway corporation Deutsche Bahn, starting from January 1. This decision is related to an investigation launched in 2022 into possible distortion of competition, when the state compensated the company for losses, giving it a competitive advantage over private operators.
Although the official results of the investigation have not yet been published, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung, the management of Deutsche Bahn has already been notified of the upcoming ban. The European Commission already made a similar decision last year regarding the French railway company SNCF and its freight operator Fret SNCF.
DB Cargo’s financial situation continues to deteriorate: for the first half of 2024, the company recorded an operating loss of 261 million euros, which is 66 million euros more than in the same period last year. The operator’s revenue fell by 106 million euros, amounting to 2.8 billion euros.