The rail freight industry warns of a massive shift of transports back onto the road. In a joint open letter, the companies Hupac, Kombiverkehr and TX Logistik as well as the European freight associations ERFA, Fermerci, UIRR and SGKV urged Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder and the new chairwoman of Deutsche Bahn, Evelyn Palla, to take action. The reason: in the signatories' assessment, the upcoming general overhaul of the German rail corridors threatens the capacity of Combined Transport.
Engpässe auf der Schiene gefährden Versorgungssicherheit
According to the participating companies, the quality of rail freight traffic has deteriorated significantly in recent years. Construction sites, disruptions and bottlenecks led to train cancellations, delays and diversions, the letter says. Now an additional stress factor is added with the planned corridor renovation. For the six-month full closures, diversion routes are planned, but their economic viability is uncertain.
Experiences from earlier construction phases showed that many substitute routes for freight traffic are only partially suitable – for example due to shorter train lengths, smaller profile dimensions or longer running times. These conditions jeopardize the competitiveness of rail freight traffic and lead to train cancellations, warns the industry.
„If central freight corridors
are closed for long periods without equivalent detour options, the shift back to road transport is inevitable,“ reads the letter, which was published on October 29, 2025.
Verkehr wandert bereits auf die Straße
The signatories see the development as already underway. According to Hupac and Kombiverkehr, the relocation can already be statistically proven. On the Rhine axis via Switzerland, transport volume in Combined Transport has fallen by 7.6 percent in recent years, while road freight traffic rose by 7.2 percent. This corresponds to a relocation of around 86,000 trucks.
For the coming years, the providers expect a decrease in rail freight capacity by 20 to 30 percent as a result of the planned corridor renovation. On the Alpine-crossing routes via Austria and Switzerland alone, around 500,000 additional truck shipments could arise – with corresponding consequences for emissions, traffic jams and accident risks.
Steigende Kosten untergraben Wettbewerbsfähigkeit
In addition to infrastructural constraints, the companies criticize the cost development in the rail sector. Since 2023, track access charges have risen by 19 percent; for 2026, further increases of between 25 and 35 percent threaten. In addition, penalties for last-minute cancellations are incurred, even if they were due to
network disruptions. Also the decommissioning of wagons now causes significant costs.
This development, according to the companies, leads to rail becoming increasingly less competitive as a mode of transport, while road costs remain stable or decline. Many shippers would therefore turn their backs on Combined Transport, the signatories say. „Whoever has procured new trucks and hired drivers once, usually stays there permanently,“ reads the letter.
Forderungen an Politik und Bahn
To stop the trend, companies and associations are calling for a package of short-term and mid-term measures. These include a price freeze on track access charges for 2026, a capacity guarantee of at least 90 percent during the corridor renovations and the upgrading of suitable detour routes. They also demand that routes be allocated according to market needs in case of bottlenecks and that inferior routes be compensated with an operating-disruption allowance.
Kombiverkehr-Geschäftsführer Armin Riedl emphasizes that this is not about special treatment, but about planning security for the logistics industry. Hupac CEO Michail Stahlhut also warns:
„Without countermeasures, there is a risk of loss of transport capacity, competitiveness and progress in climate protection.“
Europäische Investitionen in Gefahr
According to the companies, far more is at
stake than national logistics flows. A shift back to road transport would devalue years of investments in terminals and European mega-projects such as the Gotthard or Brenner Base Tunnel. This infrastructure has been built on the trust that Germany, as a central transit country, would provide the necessary capacities.
The industry also sees this as a threat to industrial supply security. The Open Letter explicitly refers to the role of logistics as the “lifeline of German industry.” A stable rail infrastructure is therefore not only a matter of climate protection, but also of location policy.
Branche bietet Dialog an
Despite the criticism, industry representatives signal willingness to engage in dialogue. The signatories – Hupac, Kombiverkehr, TX Logistik, ERFA, Fermerci, UIRR and SGKV – state that they stand ready, together with policymakers and rail management, to develop solutions to align the infrastructure renovation needs with the requirements of logistics.
Their goal is to secure Combined Transport as the backbone of a sustainable and competitive logistics. The message is clear: without concrete countermeasures, rail freight traffic will lose ground noticeably in the coming years – with direct consequences for transport capacity, cost structures and the climate balance of
