Deutsche Bahn and Lufthansa expand cooperation

Deutsche Bahn (DB) and Lufthansa want to jointly bring more passengers to international flights by train and work more closely together to achieve this. The two groups announced on Monday new and faster train connections to the largest German airport and Lufthansa headquarters in Frankfurt am Main.

DB Passenger Transport Board Member Berthold Huber spoke of a joint “product offensive” that “can really score in terms of travel times, price and environmental friendliness”.

“We are opening up new horizons. Not only for our customers, but also for ourselves,” said Lufthansa Executive Board member Harry Hohmeister, calling the stronger cooperation on the rails “remarkable”. Bahn and Lufthansa are no longer competitors: “There is no ‘either or’.”

If the railroad offers good offers, flight connections could be omitted, said Lufthansa board member Harry Hohmeister. You have seen that in the past near Cologne, Dortmund or Paderborn. Basically, however, it is a matter of optimizing both transport offers. Hohmeister said: “Both flights and trains can co-exist. But then of course there will be fewer flights – smaller planes, fewer frequencies, that will affect some destinations in Germany.”

“We both have to become more competitive than others together,” said Huber. Accordingly, the corporations want to offer their customers a “continuous, comfortable travel chain” to the airport in Frankfurt and from there out into the world. The stronger networking of the modes of transport in Germany benefits “consumers, customers and the environment” and should be an example for all of Europe.

Huber pointed out that Frankfurt was the most important long-distance hub not only for Lufthansa, but also for the railways thanks to the long-distance train station located directly next to the airport. Therefore, the two groups are targeting a number of new and faster connections on this very transport hub.

On the one hand, the existing network of the “Lufthansa Express Rail” baptized train connections for Lufthansa customers who want to travel with the ICE from 17 cities to Frankfurt Airport will be expanded by five cities.

As of July, passengers can also travel from Hamburg and Munich to Frankfurt for the first time in the exclusive program, including special offers such as pre-reserved seats and mileage credits, as the companies announced. Berlin, Bremen and Münster will follow in December.

“From April 2021, the feeder trains will be bookable for as long as the associated connecting flight,” said Deutsche Bahn. In the Lufthansa Express Rail, passengers only have one ticket for train and flight, are automatically rebooked for the next flight in the event of delays and, depending on the status, enjoy amenities such as lounges and services with both partners. At the airport, they are supposed to be passed through the controls quickly.

Checked baggage remains problematic

As soon as the number of passengers at the airport increases again after the Corona crisis, the joint customers will be brought forward for security checks and baggage handling. Still, luggage remains a problem. Attempts to accept baggage at the exit stations had proven to be too complex and too expensive in the past. There is a particular lack of luggage scanners at train stations. The railway wants to use at least wagons with particularly large luggage racks in the announced “super sprinters” and Lufthansa wants to prioritize unloading the luggage of railway customers from the aircraft. “We are continuing to work on the issue,” said a Lufthansa spokeswoman.

On the other hand, Deutsche Bahn announced that it would use new “extra-fast Sprinter trains” with fewer intermediate stops on highly frequented long-distance routes to or via Frankfurt Airport when the timetable changes in December. A new ICE connection from Hamburg via Hanover to the airport is planned in three hours and 45 minutes. According to Huber, the trains should “optimally match” the departure and arrival times in Frankfurt for customers so that transfer times are reduced as much as possible.

The existing line between the Rhineland and Munich is also affected: from Düsseldorf via Cologne, Frankfurt and Nuremberg to Munich, the travel time with the Super Sprinter is to be reduced by a total of 30 minutes to four hours and 20 minutes. The journey to Frankfurt Airport from Nuremberg should be possible in less than two hours – but also long-distance travel between Munich and Cologne in less than four hours.

In addition, another Sprinter connection is planned from Bonn via Cologne and then without stopping to Berlin – three times a day; Total travel time: four hours 25 minutes. The DB therefore not only wants to function as a climate-friendly Lufthansa feeder, but also increasingly replace domestic flights overall.

Munich is not properly connected

Lufthansa does not want to take some domestic German flights to or from Frankfurt into the program again, even after the Corona crisis has been completely overcome. “Smaller aircraft, fewer frequencies, that will affect some destinations in Germany in the future,” because the train is a good alternative here, said Hohmeister.

Lufthansa is also working on corresponding rail offers for its second hub in Munich. But the connection is not as good as in Frankfurt. “Munich is on our agenda. Only at the moment we cannot offer a short-term solution for it,” said Hohmeister. According to Berthold Huber, board member of the railways, the connection to Munich is not even included in the federal transport route plan.

In the past, Lufthansa has defended ultra-short flights such as Nuremberg-Munich or Nuremberg-Frankfurt with the argument that passengers cannot be expected to take long train journeys and that they do not want to lose them to other hubs and thus to other airlines. After all, passengers who want to cover the entire journey by plane can always fly via foreign hubs such as Paris, Amsterdam or Istanbul. Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr pointed out last week in the balance sheet presentation that the French ban on domestic flights always excludes transfer traffic.

The environmental association BUND welcomed the closer cooperation between the two modes of transport. “The raising of existing potential to avoid short-haul flights is long overdue. Now targeted investments must be made in the elimination of bottlenecks, the expansion of railway junctions, the construction of passing tracks and the connection of Munich Airport”, demanded BUND mobility expert Jens Hilgenberg. Short-haul flights, including feeders, would have to be completely relocated to rail by 2030.

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