Italo’s entry threatens long‑distance rail service in 16 German cities

The railway union EVG warns that the Italian high‑speed operator Italo’s planned entry into the German market, slated for as early as April 2028, could force Deutsche Bahn to cut long‑distance connections in up to 16 cities. Italo aims to run up to 30‑50 daily trains on Germany’s most profitable corridors – Munich‑Hamburg via Berlin and Munich‑Dortmund via Cologne – and will seek guaranteed access to prime routes overseen by the rail‑infrastructure arm InfraGo and the Federal Network Agency. Union leader Martin Burkert says allowing Italo to “cherry‑pick” routes would dismantle the long‑distance network, leaving passengers in towns such as Aachen, Augsburg, Bamberg, Chemnitz, Cottbus, Freiburg, Jena, Magdeburg, Münster, Rostock, Saarbrücken, Schwerin, Singen and Trier to travel first on slower regional trains to reach a long‑distance hub. The union calls for fair allocation rules to ensure operators also serve less‑profitable lines, urging the transport minister to intervene before service cuts occur.