Apply for a water rights permit for the construction, expansion, or use of railway-specific infrastructure

If you wish to build, expand, or operate Deutsche Bahn facilities and this involves impacts on bodies of water, you must apply for a water management permit from the Federal Railway Authority.

If you operating facilities of Deutsche Bahn

• build,
• expand or
• use,

affects bodies of water in most cases.

This includes, for example

• surface inland waters,
• Coastal waters or
• the groundwater.

Structures such as buildings or bridges, as well as excavation supports such as sheet pile walls that are permanently or temporarily submerged in groundwater, can affect the quality of bodies of water. The same applies, for example, to wastewater or stormwater discharged into surrounding rivers and lakes or into the groundwater.

In principle, the state manages the bodies of water. Therefore, if you build or use railway-specific infrastructure, such as operational facilities of federal railways, and thereby affect bodies of water, you will definitely need a permit. You apply for the permit from the Federal Railway Authority (Eisenbahn-Bundesamt – EBA).

You have no entitlement to use the bodies of water. The granting of a water permit is at the discretion of the EBA.

To apply for a water rights permit, you can use the EBA application portal. There you will find the following online applications:

• WREBAU for water uses during construction time
• WRE-ENG for stormwater discharges into water bodies

You can apply for the water abstraction permit online, by mail, or by email.

Apply for a water rights permit online:

• Go to the application portal of the Federal Railway Authority (EBA).
• Log in with your user credentials.
  • If you do not yet have a user account for the Federal Railway Authority's application portal, you must register once.
• Call the following online service as needed:
  • WRE-BAU for temporary water uses during construction
  • WRE-ENG for stormwater discharges into water bodies
• The application assistant guides you step by step through the required information. Please fill out the application form completely.
• Upload the required documents as a PDF file and submit the application. The file must not be larger than 30 megabytes. You will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt.
• The EBA will examine your documents and send you a notification communicating the decision on your application.
• Upon completion of the proceedings, you will also receive a notice of costs.

Apply for a water management permit by mail or email:

• Submit a written application in accordance with the specifications in the relevant information sheets.
• Please attach all required documents and send the application by post or email to the EBA. The files attached to the email must not be larger than 10 megabytes. You will receive an acknowledgment of receipt.
• The EBA will examine your documents and send you a notification communicating the decision on your application.
• Upon completion of the proceedings, you will also receive a notice of costs.

You must apply for the water permit in good time before the use of the body of water begins.

The total amount of fees you have to pay depends on the time required to process your application:

• Hourly rate: 120.00 EUR
• for each commenced quarter of an hour: EUR 30.00

• Appeal. You can find detailed information on how to file an appeal in the notice.
• Administrative court lawsuit