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.
