DB Netz

DB Netz was a major subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn that owned and operated a majority of the German railway system (2019: 33,291 km). It was one of the largest railway infrastructure managers by length and transport volume of its network.

The company was established in the course of the second stage of the German rail reform as a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn. DB Netz was headquartered in Frankfurt and contained seven regional divisions ("Regionalbereiche", RB) and a central division. The locations of its regional headquarters were Berlin (RB east), Frankfurt (RB central), Duisburg (RB west), Hanover (RB north), Karlsruhe (RB southwest), Leipzig (RB southeast) and Munich (RB south). DB Netz AG was profitable from route fees but received extensive public funding for maintaining, developing and extending the network of European and federal transportation routes.

It was included in the brand DB Netze when Deutsche Bahn was reorganized into three major divisions covering passengers, logistics, and infrastructure. However its legal entity remained.

Despite being an integral part of Deutsche Bahn AG and one of its major subsidiaries, DB Netz AG had to grant non-discriminatory access to other rail service providers that are in competition to Deutsche Bahn's other major business units. Therefore DB Netz AG is overseen by the Federal Network Agency. On 1 January 2024, it merged with DB Station&Service to form DB InfraGO.