Gabriele Triebel, member of the Landtag from Kaufering, has filed a complaint with the Bavarian Railway Company (BEG) about the lack of connections for Munich commuters. The Green politician criticizes the fact that since the timetable change in December, several connections that commuters are used to are missing at peak times in the late afternoon.
45 minutes no train at rush hour
Stops in Pasing, Geltendorf and Kaufering have partially been eliminated. From 4.20 p.m., there will be no more trains for 45 minutes from Munich to Kaufering and on to the next crossing station in Buchloe. Before the timetable changeover, the route usually ran every half hour with additional clock amplifiers at peak times.
BEG cites delays in the tender as a reason
The thinning out in regional traffic was not planned: According to the BEG, the reason for the deterioration is delays in the award procedure to the new route operator “Go Ahead”. It will only take over a year later, namely at the next timetable change in December 2021. Triebel accuses the BEG of having slept during the tender: “I expect the BEG to advertise its procedures early and correctly. Of course, it must with delays For me that means that the tender date in August 2018 was far too late for the line to go into operation in 2020, “she told BR.
Go Ahead ran out of time to get trains
In response to a BR request, the BEG replies that the deadlines were observed in the tender. The reason for the delays was “a review procedure initiated by a losing bidder. This meant that the contract could only be awarded with a significant delay. As a result, the start of operations had to be postponed by a year because the winning bidder” Go Ahead ” Due to the lead times from the rail vehicle manufacturers, it was no longer possible to procure the required new vehicles by the end of 2020. ”
According to the BEG, there are no options for short-term cycle compression
Short-term remedy is not possible. For example, the previously heavily used train at ten to five from Munich Central Station could not be used again. Because at this time the Eurocity is now leaving for Zurich. Talks with the “DB Regio”, which has stood in for “Go Ahead” for a year, have therefore not opened up any options for short-term increases in frequency.
Commuters will need patience until December
An improvement is only in sight from December 2021: Then a new suburban train will run between Munich and Buchloe every half hour with several stops, including in Kaufering. Until then, many Munich commuters from the Landsberg area, the southern district of Augsburg and the Ostallgäu will have to be patient.
Extension route a prestige project
The Munich-Lindau-Zurich rail expansion line is a prestige project. For hundreds of millions of euros, it has been completely electrified in recent years and expanded for fast trains with tilting technology. Bridges were built and a new through station in Lindau. Since December you can get from Munich to Lindau in two hours and Zurich in four hours.
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