More than 100 bus drivers are still missing for the Riedbahn renovation

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Stop for rail replacement services in Frankfurt am Main: dress rehearsal lasting several weeks

Photo: Andreas Arnold / dpa

Deutsche Bahn is still looking for more than 100 bus drivers for the months-long general renovation of the Riedbahn between Frankfurt am Main and Mannheim. »We want to recruit all drivers for the rail replacement service ourselves. We are currently at a rate of 60 percent,” said Evelyn Palla, who is responsible for regional transport on the railway board. A large number of new hires are “in the pipeline”. According to its own information, the railway needs 400 bus drivers plus reserves for the Riedbahn renovation. Recruiting also takes place abroad, especially in Romania, Spain and Croatia.

The Riedbahn is scheduled to be closed for five months from mid-July and completely renovated. Long-distance and freight traffic will be rerouted via other routes. Rail replacement services with buses are planned for regional transport. According to railway information, around 16,000 passengers travel on regional trains along the Riedbahn every day.

In January there was a dress rehearsal lasting several weeks: on individual days during this time, passengers were taken to their destinations by bus. However, there were often only a few passengers on the replacement service. Palla emphasized that the test period was unlikely to be representative of the upcoming general renovation due to vacation days, train drivers' strikes and days with black ice.

At the beginning of the dress rehearsal, individual bus drivers got lost in replacement traffic. Palla admitted that the training time was limited. This teaching will be taken into account for the general renovation.

Full closure shortens the construction time

“During this dress rehearsal, we managed to bring 400 percent more construction volume to the track than with conventional construction methods,” said Infrastructure Director Berthold Huber. Conventional construction means, for example, construction work with single-track closures, i.e. during ongoing operations.

Dozens of routes in Germany are to be brought up to date with general renovations. The Riedbahn is the beginning. The route between Hamburg and Berlin will follow in 2025. The railway accepts complete closures for months and then hopes to have construction freedom for at least five years.

The dress rehearsal on the Riedbahn took a week longer than planned. Huber cited the strikes and the resulting disruption in logistics, the onset of winter with black ice and unexpected delays in putting the control and safety technology back into operation as reasons.

He was optimistic about the general renovation. It should be completed by the big timetable change in mid-December. There is a buffer of several weeks that is reserved for the commissioning of the new technology, said Huber. During the general renovation, the entire control and security technology should be replaced with digital systems.

The dress rehearsal in January was accompanied by a customer survey. According to railway information, many long-distance passengers hardly noticed that the trains were taking a diversion. 80 percent of passengers on regional transport were satisfied with the replacement service. Those responsible were confident that the railway would not lose any passengers due to the long construction period and complete closure.

mik/dpa AFX