Bayrischzell/Fischbachau/Schliersee: Kufstein line slowed down

Created: 05/23/2022, 06:00

By: Christian Masengarb

Question of responsibility: In Landl, the RVO handed over passengers to Austrian buses during the test operation of the Kufstein line, which was financed by the municipalities.

Because the municipalities paid for the test, but the district has to pay for the continuous use, the resumption of the line has now been delayed.

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The Schliersee-Fischbachau-Bayrischzell-Kufstein bus route has come to a standstill.

Because the district has to advertise the bus throughout Europe, the connection is canceled this year.

Leitzachtal – At a time when the end of the corona restrictions is again bringing more tourists to the Leitzachtal and long-suffering residents are hoping for relief on the streets, the bus route, with which Schliersee, Fischbachau and Bayrischzell wanted to make life easier for both groups, has come to a standstill: The connection to Kufstein has not run since the end of the test operation in spring 2020.

Tourists react annoyed, but hope for the coming year.

Bayrischzell/Fischbachau/Schliersee: Kufstein line slowed down

More on the topic:

Public transport expansion: Schliersee-Kufstein bus line has a future

The cause of the standstill is a question of jurisdiction.

As reported, the test operation of the line had a promising start in the summer of 2019 with over 1000 passengers before the corona restrictions and the border closure in 2020 ended abruptly.

Bayrischzell, Fischbachau and Schliersee nevertheless decided in June of the same year to extend the Kufstein bus indefinitely, with two round trips per day each, and each provided around 11,000 euros a year for this.

Simon Irgers (FWG) statement in the Fischbachau municipal council that, given the traffic situation in the Leitzachtal, the termination of a public transport project would be "a devastating sign", summing up the prevailing attitude at the time.

The region is now sending this devastating sign – albeit involuntarily and probably temporarily.

The government of Upper Bavaria intervened because the municipalities were only allowed to pay for the test operation of the bus themselves, explains Fischbachau's manager Johann Neundlinger, whose municipality organized the test run.

However, the district must adopt a permanent line.

The community plans were invalid despite the funds provided, the bus stood still after the test operation despite unanimous support.

So now it's up to the county.

First he has to coordinate details with the Tyrolean transport companies, which organize the line in Austria.

According to a spokeswoman for the authorities, the integration of the municipal guest cards and the Gibmir5 ticket in the Austrian tariffs is the only major stumbling block that is preventing the project.

How both systems are combined is currently being examined.

That takes time.

More on the subject:

Schliersee-Kufstein bus line: Bayrischzell agrees to an extension

Start of the Kufstein line likely in 2023

Once these questions have been clarified, the district will put the line originally operated by the RVO on the German side out to tender throughout Europe.

Because that also takes time, Neundlinger "does not expect the line to start this year".

That also excludes the district office spokeswoman.

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The line should start sooner or later.

According to Neundlinger, the communities are still behind the project, day trippers continue to ask for a bus to Kufstein and the original impetus to offer hikers a bus connection on the Wörnsmühl-Thiersee long-distance hiking trail continues.

In addition, road relief remains a top priority.

Many reasons for the bus.

Even if tourism professionals express their frustration about the delay to our newspaper, the Leitzachtal should only send the "devastating sign" that Irger spoke of in the Fischbachau municipal council only temporarily.

The spokeswoman for the district office also says that she is “optimistic that we will be able to resume the offer next year.”