Dear business partners,

The 2025 financial year marks an important milestone in the strategic development of our company and should be viewed in the context of developments in 2024 and the transition to the 2026 financial year.

The complex transformation process resulting from the European Commission’s competition proceedings against the Federal Republic of Germany as the owner of DB Cargo – which covered not only traction services but also wagon management and order processing – was largely successfully completed by the end of 2024 and fully concluded in the course of 2025. Overall, this reflects the consistent implementation of the strategic measures introduced in recent years. Against this backdrop, we can now state with great satisfaction that the transformation has been realised sustainably and successfully.

With the close of the 2025 financial year and the transition into the 2026 financial year, we are launching a completely restructured Kombiverkehr. We are working with capable traction service providers, both established and new, whilst also having our own wagon management system and enhanced digital control and optimisation capabilities. Implementing this reorganisation required a considerable effort in 2025 – not only within our own company, but also on the part of our traction partners and other service partners, who contributed to its success with great dedication and commitment. It is particularly worth noting that this transformation was achieved amidst continuing challenging infrastructure conditions in Germany. Despite a persistently strained situation, we have succeeded in implementing the necessary measures and thereby creating a robust foundation for future development.

It is our firm belief that the right balance between the necessary construction works – which we expressly support – on the one hand, and ensuring an efficient network through InfraGO on the other, has not yet been fully achieved. Against this backdrop, the services provided to our business partners and customers in 2025 did not yet meet our own standards in all areas. Nevertheless, we were able to achieve a significantly higher fulfilment rate – both in terms of the number of trains operated and through an overall improvement in coordination with our service partners. Against this backdrop, we succeeded in stabilising the result at the end of the year whilst simultaneously laying the foundations for successful further development.

Building on the stable production base we have achieved, we are working consistently towards the realisation of several new train products, the launch of which is already planned for the 2026 financial year. The economic environment remains subdued, as in previous years. We are now in the fourth consecutive year of persistently weak economic development. Even though no short-term end is currently in sight and the volumes of goods to be transported in Europe may tend to stabilise or decline, we continue to align our planning proactively with these conditions.

In view of the competitive landscape in the European rail transport market, we are closely monitoring current developments. In our view, the current shape of regulatory measures does not yet fully ensure a level playing field in all respects. This makes our clear commitment to fair and reliable framework conditions for all market participants in Europe all the more important. Notwithstanding these challenges, fundamental trends such as the shortage of skilled workers, climate change and the growing importance of sustainable logistics solutions continue to clearly support our business model. Initial demand trends at the start of 2026 give us confidence that a return to more stable growth phases is possible. An essential prerequisite for this remains an efficient and reliable infrastructure. In Germany in particular, it will be crucial to strike a balance between construction activities and ongoing operations and to ensure this balance in the long term.

Overall, we are looking ahead with confidence. We would like to extend our special thanks to our customers, who placed their trust in us throughout the challenging financial year 2025, and equally to our employees. Their dedication has played a key role in stabilising the Kombinetz network and driving forward the development of a modern and sustainable company.

We look forward to continuing to shape the successful development of our network together with our existing and new business partners, as well as our team.