District - Nobody laughs at the slogan “The train is coming”. Rail travelers in Bavaria complain about delays and missed connections. Barrier-free access to the Allgäu train stations is also a long time coming, as is the implementation of rail as a sustainable means of transport. Now an online railway congress has spoken to representatives from politics, the railway company and Deutsche Bahn about grievances and upcoming improvements at the railway in the Allgäu.
The reason for the rail summit are the changes in the Allgäu local rail passenger transport (SPNV) timetable, which will come into effect on December 12th.
Florian Liese, Head of Planning at the Bavarian Railway Company, emphasized the start of electrical operation for the two new bi-hourly lines, RE 96 and RE 92, on the Munich-Memmingen-Lindau route.
The special thing about it is: With the RE 96 between Munich and Memmingen, only stops in Munich-Pasing, Buchloe, Türkheim and Mindelheim are planned.
For rail travelers traveling between Augsburg and Kempten, the frequency increases: The RE 79 Augsburg - Kempten now runs every hour between Buchloe and Kempten.
This provides an improved connection for Biessenhofen in the direction of Kempten and for Günzach in both directions, added Liese.
The timetable concept in the Munich - Buchloe corridor is new.
With the RB 74, electric trains are available every hour when the timetable changes.
The new operator for the Allgäu E-Netz is called Go-Ahead, which is starting with the new “Flirt 3” electric multiple unit.
A collaboration has been contractually agreed with him until the end of 2033.
Away from diesel
The topic of "alternative drives" is also right at the top of the agenda for Sebastian Röhrig, head of the rail transport unit in the Bavarian State Ministry for Housing, Building and Transport.
In the course of climate change, it is important to rely on climate-friendly means of transport, said the transport expert.
The citizens would have to be convinced more than before to travel by train.
The same applies to industry, which is supposed to get its goods onto the rails.
+
Alternative drives are high on the agenda for Sebastian Röhrig, Head of the Rail Transport Unit in the Bavarian State Ministry.
© Raab
“We still have a lot of room for improvement.” With repeated references to a test drive with hydrogen-powered vehicles a few weeks ago, the head of unit outlined his decarbonisation strategy for the Allgäu.
According to this, all 100 regional rail transport lines with diesel traction are to be converted to alternative drives by 2040, i.e. to drives with hydrogen, battery hybrids or electricity.
Each of these types of drive have advantages and disadvantages.
Your performance depends on the further technical development by the company, explained Röhrig.
What sounded so positive shouldn't catch on with Alexander Hold.
The Vice President of the Bavarian State Parliament said that up to now a "peripheral situation" had been determined for the Allgäu.
Much still needs to be done to connect the region to the railways.
It fits into the picture that the direct connections to Munich have decreased.
"Like in the 50s."
Bernhard Pohl, member of the state parliament from Kaufbeuren (Free Voters) was concerned with a faster train connection.
You need a “sprinter” with which passengers can travel from Memmingen to Munich within half an hour.
After all, the Allgäu would be a strong economic region.
“We're as fast as we were in the 1950s,” he criticized.
+
Alexander Hold, Vice President of the Bavarian State Parliament, is convinced that a lot still needs to be done to connect the region to the railways.
© Raab
The stations are also "poorly set up" when it comes to barrier-free access.
Peter Götz from the social association VdK in Sonthofen agreed.
He had the simple wish "to want to travel by train from A to B without any problems," said the local association chairman.
Dr.
Leopold Herz, member of the Bavarian state parliament from Wertach (Free Voters), agreed: “When I look at the train stations in Kempten, Sonthofen and Kaufbeuren, the expansion is“ still hesitant ”.
Karl-Heinz Holzwarth from DB Group Bahnregion Süd has a different view of things.
For him, it is about making traveling by train on 15.9 million train kilometers in the Allgäu more attractive than before.
15 of the 60 stations have already been made barrier-free.
The fact that the expansion of accessibility at the train stations is only progressing slowly is due to the way they are financed.
"It takes so long because there are different funding pools," said the DB's quality officer, appealing for understanding.
+
Bernhard Pohl, Member of the State Parliament, calls for a faster train connection to the state capital.
© Raab
Bernhard Pohl agreed with Alexander Hold and Sebastian Röhrig that the railway would have to progress faster than before with its renovation.
“The train has to pick up speed,” demanded the FW MP.
What will change from December 12th:
RE 96: New two-hour line Munich - Memmingen - Lindau (stop between Munich and Memmingen only in Munich-Pasing, Buchloe, Türkheim and Mindelheim)
RE 92: New two-hour line Memmingen - Lindau
Suburban line Munich - Buchloe every hour
RE 79 Augsburg - Kempten runs every hour between Buchloe and Kempten
RE 75 Ulm - Kempten - Oberstdorf with cycle gap closings:
Monday - Friday 9:35 p.m. from Kempten to Ulm at 10:39 p.m.
On the weekend at 4:24 p.m. from Ulm to Kempten at 5:29 p.m.
Stefan Raab
