The federation's 2015-16 market report reveals DB Regio remained the clear market leader in 2014, operating 660 million train-km, giving it a market share of 74%. However, DB Regio's share of the market has declined by 11% over the last decade and several concessions currently operated by DB Regio were awarded to competitors in 2015. This means DB Regio's share of the market will continue to shrink over the next few years, although it remains a long way ahead of its closest rival Transdev, which had a 6% market share by passenger-km in 2014. Netinera was the third largest player with a market share of 4%, followed by BeNex with 3%.
The report notes that two new entrants, National Express and Go-Ahead, have recently gained a foothold in the market while established players including Abellio and Keolis have continued to strengthen their position.
Almost 90 million train-km per year is due to be tendered each year between 2016 and 2020, almost half of this in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, a state where DB Regio currently dominates the sizable regional rail market.
DB's inter-city business has suffered in recent years from the liberalisation of the long-distance bus market, which has brought intensive competition between bus operators, resulting in low fares. This may also be impacting ridership on regional trains and the report notes that 12% of passengers on long-distance buses previously used regional rail services.
