Engagements

CRA consultants support Trainline in landmark Bundeskartellamt decision

Beautiful view with modern commuter train on the railway station and colorful sky with clouds at sunset in Europe. Industrial landscape with blue train on railway platform. Railroad background

In a landmark decision, the Bundeskartellamt found that Deutsche Bahn abused its dominant position in the German rail market by, among others, foreclosing access to real-time data and discriminating against independent mobility platforms like Trainline and Omio. Crucially, the 450-page decision obliges Deutsche Bahn to remunerate independent mobility platforms for their rail-ticketing services at a level that covers at least Deutsche Bahn’s own long-run average incremental costs (LRAIC) of rail ticketing.

A CRA team supported Trainline throughout the investigation with presentations and various submissions, cited by the Bundeskartellamt, on economic theories of harm, the estimation of long-run average incremental costs, and evidence of foreclosure effects resulting in consumer harm.

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