Until the end of 2023 DB Cargo, a shareholder of Kombiverkehr KG, was the company’s biggest provider of rail transport services, last accounting for about 63 per cent of them. The competition proceedings brought by the European Commission against the Federal Republic of Germany, as the owner of DB Cargo, led to a fundamental change in this situation for Kombiverkehr in the course of the year under report. Following a review of the market in the first part of 2024, the company decided to safeguard its transport products by transferring a majority of the traction services to third-party railway undertakings in a gradual process beginning in June 2024.

Four major transport packages were outsourced: The fully owned subsidiary KombiRail Europe B.V., which has licences in Germany and the Netherlands, was selected for national services. Transport between Germany and Italy via Austria, Kombiverkehr’s largest market segment, was awarded to the carrier Lokomotion GmbH, in which Kombiverkehr has a 20 per cent interest. SBB Cargo International took over traction for services to Switzerland and via Gotthard to Italy. Only a small transport package, namely Germany – France/Spain and Germany – Scandinavia services, remained with DB Cargo or its subsidiaries DB Cargo France and DB Cargo Scandinavia. In addition to these railway undertakings, Kombiverkehr is also collaborating with other partners on individual transport links. A total of 18 rail operators are working for the company, eleven of them as contractual carriers and seven as subcontracted operating carriers.

The complex process of making the switch, which in addition to traction services also covered wagon management as well as order processing, was largely successfully completed by the end of 2024.