Annual Report 2025 – ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG

ÖBB-Infrastruktur Aktiengesellschaft Group Management Report | Consolidated Financial Statements 21 The key opportunities and risks, none of which jeopardises the company as a going concern, are distributed across the individual opportunity and risk areas as follows: Strategy The year 2025 was characterised by a challenging business environment. The causes include ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, a worsening climate crisis and rising costs. Nevertheless, the rail systemmaintains its position as an attractive and efficient backbone of sustainable mobility and, as a pioneer in the drive towards carbon neutrality by 2040, is advancing the political mandate set out in the BMIMI’s Mobility Master Plan. Furthermore, society continues to call for attractive, environmentally friendly transport solutions that are available as a reliable basic service to both current and new users of the rail network. The fact that the rail network continues to operate at high capacity highlights the significant social and political importance of rail transport, while simultaneously presenting the rail sector with major challenges. On the one hand, the sharp rise in demand is leading to historically high operational output; on the other hand, the increasing frequency of services is creating greater pressure to deliver this output efficiently, cost-effectively and to a high standard. In order to meet these challenges, ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG will continue to pursue its #INFRA.mobilitytransition (#INFRA.Mobilitätswende) strategy in the coming years. It is intended to strike a clear strategic balance between growth, cost-effectiveness and quality. The aim is to plan the expansion and modernisation of the infrastructure in such a way that capacity is increased in a sustainable manner and bottlenecks are eliminated – without compromising the stability and reliability of existing operations. Numerous initiatives have been launched to improve and stabilise the rail system’s punctuality record. These will be continued in the coming years with the significant involvement of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG. The growing pressure to make savings due to the difficult economic situation calls for new approaches to resource management, project prioritisation and digitalisation. The coming years will be characterised by smart growth. The challenge is to shift more traffic onto the railways without compromising punctuality, safety or customer satisfaction. The focus is, therefore, on the sustainable optimisation of the entire value chain – from construction planning through to operation and maintenance. Through its innovative strength and unwavering commitment to quality, the company will further strengthen its role as the backbone of climate-friendly rail transport. A central role in this regard is played by the strategic programme Agenda29 à . With theAgenda29 à , ÖBB- Infrastruktur AG is pursuing a clear transformation strategy aimed at achieving a 30% by 2030 compared to 2021, whilst simultaneously improving quality for customers. Agenda29 à brings together six key projects that serve as central levers for modernisation and improving efficiency: – Online ordering – Capacity-based planning – Integration of route and feasibility – From timetable to production schedule – Real-time customer information – Better organisation online The greatest strategic risks lie in the complexity of the transformation: Shortages of skilled personnel and suppliers of key technologies, the integration of new and existing IT systems, the implementation of extensive regulatory requirements (e.g. the EU Capacity Regulation), and ensuring the availability of funding and resources. Added to this are the challenges of meeting ambitious targets on schedule in what remains an economically and geopolitically volatile environment. The strategic measures are incorporated into the medium-term plan and are monitored on an ongoing basis. Its success will be measured by whether the capacity and quality of the rail network can be sustainably improved and whether modernisation can be implemented in line with the mobility transition.