Timetable changes at Deutsche Bahn and transport associations. The routes have been reassigned to regional traffic in Bavaria. This means a better offer for passengers, more seats on trains and sometimes more connections. There are significant improvements in the Munich metropolitan area, the Nuremberg metropolitan area and in Regensburg, and passengers from Bavaria will travel faster westwards and northwards from this Sunday.
15 minutes travel saving for Stuttgart, Cologne and Dortmund
The railway has put into operation part of the new line of the Stuttgart 21 project, from Ulm to Wendlingen. This cuts the journey time of the ICE trains from Munich or Augsburg to Stuttgart and the Rhineland by 15 minutes, as Bavarian Railways chief Klaus Dieter Josel points out. The range of services on the route will also be expanded and 20 more trains will be used on the axis in the future. Twice an hour, passengers arrive from Munich to Cologne and vice versa without having to change trains.
More seats in long-distance transport, also thanks to ICE 3neo
The train is also gradually waning new neo ICE3 trains – on the new high-speed line in the direction of Stuttgart from Munich to Dortmund. The trains offer more comfort with additional doors to facilitate boarding and alighting, a new lift for wheelchair users. And in the future, cell phone reception should also be better on these ICE3neo trains, thanks to special panels that allow cell phone signal more easily.
The railway also promises lighting “with shades that depend on the time of day”. Thanks to the LED display, it should be easier to see whether a seat is booked or not. As you know, there is no obligation to book with Deutsche Bahn. Very few ICE 3neo trains have been delivered so far, but Deutsche Bahn expects three new ones a month from manufacturer Siemens.
Go-Ahead and Bayerische Regiobahn replace DB Regio around Augsburg
In future, the red Fuggerexpress trains of the DB will no longer run from Augsburg. but the new blue-white trains operated by Go-Ahead, which won the tender and the Bavarian Regiobahn BRB. Markus Egger of the Bavarian Railway Company points out the increased number of seats in the new double-decker trains. They travel “mainly the Munich – Augsburg section and then in the direction of Ulm or Donauwörth, Treuchtlingen in the Rieis or even as far as Würzburg”.
The new trains can also be combined at peak times to accommodate up to 1,000 seats. A gain on the busy road. after problems, because there were no drivers, Go-Ahead assumes it will be able to offer an hourly service on the Riesbahn as planned, despite a shortage of staff. This is also possible because the contestants help with staffing and trains. This also includes DB Regio. The head of the Bavarian railway, Josel, said it helps “so that the customer does not stand in the rain.”
Closer battle between Nuremberg and Ingolstadt
There are also more seats and a better offer of regional trains between Ingolstadt and Nuremberg. There should also be an hourly service on the new line at weekends and in the evenings between Monday and Friday. In addition, the Bavarian railway company has ordered more trains to Augsburg.
Every 20 minutes on the external routes of the Munich S-Bahn
From Monday to Friday, the Munich S-Bahn now also offers an almost continuous 20-minute cycle to the suburbs, even outside the morning rush hour. According to the BEG, an additional 775,000 rail kilometers are extrapolated per year. “It means, above all, for passengers traveling in the wider Munich area that they have to look at the timetable much less and can simply take the next S-Bahn,” enthuses offer planner Markus Egger from the BEG.
But passenger associations also praise the 20-minute cycle. However, Lukas Iffländer of Pro Bahn has some doubts due to experiences with broken trains in recent months. He fears the additional offer isn’t just on paper.
Night S-Bahn in Nuremberg
On Saturday and Sunday the train expand night traffic on the Nuremberg S-Bahn. From today the S-Bahn will run until at least 2 in the morning, sometimes even until 4 in the morning. With the S1, services on the Nuremberg Hbf – Fürth – Erlangen route will be consolidated at 20-minute intervals from Monday to Friday. “However, there are temporary restrictions due to construction sites,” admits the BEG.
More trains on the Danube Valley Railway to and from Regensburg
The operator Agilis was once again able to assert itself in the tender process and will start operations under the new Regensburg/Donautal transport contract when the timetable changes, the BEG announced. The timetable with modernized trains will not change much. During peak hours from Monday to Friday there is an influx every half hour in Regensburg, Ingolstadt and Ulm: In future there will be two journeys per hour – in the morning from 6:00 to 9:00 and in the afternoon outside the city between 16:00 – 19:00 on the routes Saal – Regensburg and Straubing – Regensburg – Neustadt (Donau) – Ingolstadt. Further gaps are to be filled in 2024, according to the service planners of the BEG.
New station Würzburg – Heidingsfeld east
On the left side of the Main, the railway has now put the new Würzburg-Heidingsfeld Ost station into operation. All trains of the lines RE 80/RB 80 Würzburg – Ansbach – Treuchtlingen will stop there every half hour during peak hours. The train also offers continuous regional express service from Munich to Würzburg via Augsburg, Treuchtlingen and Ansbach.
However, according to Pro Bahn, passengers in the Würzburg area should clearly feel the effects of the long-distance construction site on the Kassel – Fulda route with delays and changes in the summer.
Further problems between Murnau and Oberammergau
As of this timetable change, the trains between Murnau and Garmisch will run again in the regular timetable, as well as the trains to Mittenwald/Innsbruck, which the railways announced in advance. For more than five months, Garmisch-Partenkirchen was only reached by shared taxi or train replacement service. the reason was that serious train crash from Burgrain on June 3rd and the following months of rehabilitation work. Trains between Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen have been running continuously since October.
On the routes south of Garmisch to Innsbruck and Reutte in Tyrol, a change in Garmisch-Partenkirchen is necessary until further notice due to “low-speed sections and software adaptation to Werdenfelsbahn trains”. Buses also continue to run between Murnau and Oberammergau. However, according to Bahn, the goal is a stable and reliable offer for passengers with a two-hour cycle, which is now being implemented first. This means that rail traffic between Murnau and Oberammergau will resume.
Building measures throughout Bavaria
Even after the time change, construction sites will continue. The railway talks about the concept of “strong railway” and the upgrading of the most important corridors for the expansion of the German cycle path.
These efforts are also praised by Pro Bahn, even as the construction work repeatedly disrupts rail traffic. According to Lukas Iffländer, “at the moment it tends to get worse rather than better. Most regions still have regular traffic to some extent”. As an exception, Iffländer mentions the traffic in the Werdenfels network, which returned to normal much later than the railways expected.
Bottom line: more expensive everywhere and better in places
It is worth having a look at the timetables via apps such as the DB Navigator or the Bavaria timetable for local transport. Like the one on alerts. Train travel in Bavaria has become more expensive: ticket prices have increased everywhere. In some areas, however, buses and trains are now better and faster. Another innovation: in local transport, i.e. in the subways, trams and buses throughout Bavaria, only wearing a protective mask is recommended. The mask obligation in local public transport is a thing of the past since yesterday. In long-distance traffic, however, it continues to apply.
