Consultation on methods for determining interest rates for railway infrastructure managers
Year of issue 2026
Date of issue 2026.08.19
The Bundesnetzagentur is today launching a consultation on the methods report for determining interest rates for railway infrastructure managers. The starting point is a review of the methods used in the past for determining these interest rates.
Approaches to determining interest rates for railway infrastructure managers
The methods report, which the Bundesnetzagentur has put out to consultation, is part of a report on determining the rate of return on equity and the interest rate on borrowings for railway infrastructure managers that the Bundesnetzagentur commissioned in April 2026. The report sets out and discusses the approaches taken in the past for determining the rate of return on equity and the interest rate on borrowings and also explores possible alternative methods and further developments
The report presents considerations on determining the rate of return on equity using various capital market models, different possible ways of deriving the market risk premium and calculating the risk-free interest rate and beta values, and evaluating the determination of interest rates on borrowings.
Next steps
The methods report and the comments received will provide the basis for a further report on determining the rate of return on equity and the interest rate on borrowings. A report prepared on this basis will be drawn up in the first half of 2027. The Bundesnetzagentur will take account of the report and the comments received when setting the interest rates in the individual proceedings for charges. The parties involved will also be able to state their views on the planned rates in the course of the individual proceedings.
Background
The normative basis for determining the cost of capital for railway infrastructure managers is provided by section 32(1) in conjunction with section 1(9) and by section 25(1) in conjunction with Annex 4 point 5 of the German Rail Regulation Act (Eisenbahnregulierungsgesetz – ERegG). Through the amendment to the German Rail Regulation Act of 25 November 2025, the legislator has fixed the return on equity for infrastructure managers of federally owned railways at 1.9% (see Annex 4 No 5.2.3 ERegG). The evaluation carried out in the methods report therefore relates to service facility operators and infrastructure managers of non-federally owned railways.
Market players have the opportunity to comment on the report until 30 September 2026.
Further information on the methods report and the consultation procedure is available (in German) at www.bundesnetzagentur.de/650396.