ÖBB Annual Report 2025

225 Consolidated Financial Statements Österreichische Bundesbahnen-Holding Aktiengesellschaft Consolidated Financial Statements | Group Management Report 33 c. Estimated useful lives of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets The estimated useful lives are determined according to the facts and circumstances assuming ordinary maintenance costs. Actual use may differ from these estimates. According to a sensitivity analysis, a change in the useful life (remaining useful life) of -/+ 1 year would increase depreciation by EUR 260.4 million (py: EUR 265.1 million ) or decrease it by EUR 217.1 million (py: EUR 193.7). The defined useful lives generally remain unchanged for 2025. The useful life for platforms was extended from 20 to 30 years in the 2025 financial year. This has reduced the annual depreciation by EUR 15.9 million. This was due to a change in accounting estimate that was applied prospectively. The suitability of useful lives is reviewed annually or on an ad hoc basis, which leads to a reduction in annual depreciation by EUR 4.8 million (py: increase of EUR 4.0 million) due to exten- sions or reductions in useful lives. d. Provisions Provisions are measured according to the best estimate, i.e., with the amount that the company would have to pay, under reasonable consideration, to settle or transfer the obligation to a third party as of the reporting date. The track access and service charges of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG are subject to the (verifying) control of the Rail Control Commission (Schienen-Control Commission). As part of regulatory proceedings initiated ex officio or on the basis of a complaint by an infrastructure capacity holder, Schienen-Control reviews the compliance of these charges with the provi- sions of Part 6 (“Regulation of the rail transport market”) of the Railways Act or the directly applicable EU legislation governing regulation of the rail transport market. In the event of a deviation from these provisions, an official correction of the fees may be made, which may lead to fees being charged back (an additional claim for fees is also conceivable but is disputable under the law). Several regulatory proceedings were in place as of December 31, 2025. These proceedings, which are at different stages in the procedural process, relate to the period from Dec 2017 to 2025. The substance of these primarily concerns issues related to the determination and setting of track access and service charges. Based on the current status of the proceedings and the information currently available, the Schienen-Control Commission and the verification bodies will make the best possible estimate of the amount of potential reductions in track access and service charges. The risks from the respective regulatory fee proceedings were assessed individually with the involvement of experts and accounted for in the form of provisions. The necessity and amount of the provisions are largely dependent on manage- ment’s acceptance and assessment of the outcome of the proceedings. Measurement uncertainties exist in particular due to the difficulty in assessing results of the interpretation of legal issues by the supervisory authority, administrative courts or courts of law that have not yet been fully judged, possible restrictions on the temporal effect of decisions, and with regard to the nature, scope, and amount of recognized costs and/or the billing of track access and service charges published in the terms and conditions for railway network usage. The market-wide streamlining with the aim of ending long-standing regulatory charging proceedings was completed under the supervision of Schienen-Control GmbH or the Schienen-Control Commission in the 2025 financial year. This includes the proceedings relating to the charges for the traction power network in the years 2016 to 2023, the charges for the minimum access package in the 2011 to 2017 working timetable periods and the charges for station stops in the 2012 to 2023 working timetable periods. The TOCs received refunds based on the legally binding decisions of the Schienen-Control Commission, for which the provisions formed in the 2024 annual financial statements were used. Decommissioning costs are estimated and a respective provision is recognized only when the closure of individual tracks is expected in the foreseeable future or when such closure has already been initiated. The amount of the expected asset retirement costs depends largely on the assumptions of the decommissioning scenarios. The provision for environmental protection measures relates to the costs incurred in connection with the removal of con- taminants from the Company’s properties and areas. The cost estimate is based on the presumed extent of contamination. The cost estimate is based on remediation, i.e. total excavation with subsequent landfilling. If other remediation measures that lead to a reduction in financial expenses are agreed with the responsible authority, this is taken into account in the annual adjustment.