The Bavarian Railway Company (BEG), as the lead client, has launched the Europe-wide, open tendering procedure “Regionalverkehr Mainfranken” together with the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV). The BEG plans, finances and controls regional and S-Bahn traffic in the Free State on behalf of the Bavarian Ministry of Transport.
As part of the tender, the transport companies that will operate the regional trains around Würzburg from December 2029 to December 2041 will be selected. The transport services advertised amount to a total of 7.2 million train kilometers per year, of which more than 90 percent will be operated in the Free State. It is divided into two lots with express services on the one hand and area services on the other. Companies can also apply separately for each lot. Both used vehicles and new vehicles are permitted, and they must be equipped with both free WiFi for passengers and the European train control system ETCS.
“With this tender, we are setting important course for public transport in the greater Würzburg area. It is a very important milestone because it will also mark the entry into the Mainfranken regional S-Bahn as the second regional S-Bahn system in Bavaria after the Donau-Iller area. And despite the difficult financial situation, we are not cutting back; instead, we want to expand in some areas,” emphasises Bavaria’s Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter, who is also Chairman of the BEG Supervisory Board. “The first leap into the new era will also be reflected very clearly in the train names, as some will then already be running as new RS lines,” says Bärbel Fuchs, Managing Director of BEG.
Lot 1 in Mainfranken regional transport includes the express lines RE 10 Würzburg – Neustadt (Aisch) – Nuremberg, RE 54 Frankfurt – Würzburg – Schweinfurt – Bamberg and RE 55 Frankfurt – Würzburg with a total of around 4.2 million train kilometres per year, of which around 3.7 million train kilometres are in Bavaria.
In Lot 2, around 3 million train kilometers per year are to be provided, of which around 2.8 million train kilometers are in Bavaria. This includes in particular the Regio-S-Bahn lines from Flieden or Jossa via Würzburg to Marktbreit and from Würzburg to Kitzingen as well as from Würzburg via Schweinfurt to Bamberg, which stop at all stations.
The award procedure was published in the EU Official Journal on November 15, 2024.
Interested companies can submit their offers by April 25, 2025 at the latest. The BEG is expected to award the contract in mid-2025. Currently, all lines are operated by DB Regio.
First stage of the Regio-S-Bahn Mainfranken
The award procedure provides for improvements on some routes and is the entry into the Regio-S-Bahn Mainfranken. Because the infrastructure in the region is heavily used, the timetable on most lines will continue largely unchanged.
From the end of 2029, passengers will benefit especially on the new Regio-S-Bahn line 1 (RS 1) Marktbreit – Würzburg Hbf – Gemünden – Jossa (- Flieden): Between Marktbreit and Jossa, the line’s trains will run every hour all day during the week. Together with the RE 80 running parallel, this results in an offer of two trains per hour between Würzburg and Marktbreit during the week. Currently, this train frequency is only offered during peak times.
The service is also improving north of Würzburg: From December 2029, the additional trains will not only run between Würzburg and Karlstadt during rush hour, but will be extended to Gemünden and given the line designation RS 11. In addition, the RS 1 will offer direct connections between the south and north of the Mainfranken metropolis for the first time without changing trains. Since the RS 1 does not end at Würzburg main station, passengers from Marktbreit and Ochsenfurt, for example, can travel to Karlstadt and Gemünden without changing trains. Passengers east of Würzburg will also benefit. There, three additional trips on the Würzburg – Kitzingen additional line will run there every day during the week (line RS 4).
“We stand by the Mainfranken regional S-Bahn. However, a prerequisite for further improvements is an expansion of the routes, some of which are significantly overloaded, by the federal government and DB InfraGO,” says BEG Managing Director Fuchs. She points out that the feasibility study on the Mainfranken regional S-Bahn commissioned by the BEG is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2025. “However, we were able to use the basic findings from this in the preparation of this tendering procedure.”
Reactivation of the route to Lohr Stadt
In the awarding of the contract, the BEG is already making provisions for a possible reactivation of the line between Lohr Bahnhof and Lohr Stadt. As soon as this goes into operation, the RS 1 Marktbreit – Würzburg Hbf – Gemünden – Flieden would run from Gemünden to Lohr Stadt. The Gemünden – Jossa – Flieden route would then be served by a regional train line (RB 53). As soon as DB InfraGO has completed the planned new Aschaffenburg Ost station, all trains on the RB 79 line (Gemünden – Aschaffenburg Hbf) as well as the RB 58 trains on the Rüsselsheim Opelwerk – Laufach route, which are not the subject of this award procedure, will stop there. After its possible reactivation, the operation of the Mainschleifenbahn Seligenstadt – Volkach will be awarded in another competitive project due to technical and operational synergies with other lines.
In Lot 1, the BEG is ordering more seating capacity on the line between Würzburg and Nuremberg (RE 10), which is in high demand. In addition, the BEG is closing individual gaps in schedule on several lines in both lots.
The BEG sets detailed requirements with regard to operational and service quality. The railway company that wins the tender process receives monthly and annual target values for punctuality and connection security. If the company falls below these values, penalties are due. If trains are cancelled completely, the transport company receives no compensation from the BEG; if the train cancellations are also the transport company’s own fault, the BEG levies additional penalties.
The BEG also measures the operator’s service quality using tests and passenger surveys. The criteria include the cleanliness of the trains, the functionality of the equipment and passenger information. If a transport company falls below the target values specified by the BEG, it must pay penalties. If it exceeds the minimum requirements, it receives a financial bonus.
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