"Drastic problem" at the RVO: lack of bus drivers in the middle of the 9-euro ticket rush

Created: 06/14/2022, 07:00

By: Jonas Napiletzki, Gerti Reichl, Sebastian Grauvogl

There was sufficient seating and standing room in the RVO buses from Tegernsee at the weekend.

Things were different in Schliersee: the company used booster buses on the route to Spitzingsee.

© Thomas Plettenberg

9 euro ticket and the best weather.

With this combination, a wave of day-trippers swept over the Miesbach district and particularly to Schliersee and Tegernsee at the weekend.

District –

Get out of the Bavarian Regiobahn (BRB) and get on the bus to continue your journey – has the Regionalverkehr Oberbayern GmbH (RVO) coped with that?

When asked, Annette Luckner (BRB) and Peter Bartl, operations manager of the RVO Oberland branch, commented on the rush on the second weekend excursion with the 9-euro ticket.

Every 30 minutes in the morning a bus departs from Tegernsee train station to continue in the direction of Rottach-Egern or Kreuth.

Day-trippers can even get to Pertisau am Achensee by public transport.

If you wanted a seat on the bus, you got it here.

"Many day trippers continue on foot in Tegernsee - up to the Neureuth or down to the lake," reports Bartl.

The 75 to 80 seats and standing room would have been sufficient for onward transport.

The situation in Schliersee was completely different. At the weekend, so many day-trippers wanted to continue to Spitzingsee after their journey with the BRB that the capacities of the two buses, which depart every 30 minutes in the direction of Spitzingsee, were not sufficient.

"We had to react and use amplifier buses," reports Bartl.

These were in use in the mornings and afternoons parallel to the regular buses.

Shortage of bus drivers: RVO does not rule out canceling lines

Fortunately, it was possible to hire staff from the surrounding area quickly, says Bartl.

And that despite the fact that the RVO operations manager has had major personnel worries for a long time.

"To speak of a tense situation is putting it mildly," says Bartl.

"Drastic problem" would be more appropriate.

Around 70 drivers are currently working for Regionalverkehr Oberbayern GmbH.

"Far too little," says Bartl and gives several reasons for the shortage.

“Today there is no longer any demand to work in the service sector.” Not working on weekends anyway, despite bonuses.

This is also reflected in the lack of staff in the catering trade.

In order to be able to become a bus driver, several weeks of training must be completed in order to acquire the truck driver's license, the ability to transport people and the qualification as a professional driver.

The cost factor also plays a role, given the several thousand euros that have to be raised for such training.

"When we were still conscripted, you could get a truck driver's license in the Bundeswehr.

That, too, is gone,” says Bartl.

The RVO is looking for suitable drivers at home and abroad, "with little success, because truck drivers are wanted everywhere in the transport sector anyway."

+++ Read here: Bus strike: The following RVO lines in the Miesbach district were affected +++

So far it has not been necessary to delete lines in the event of an acute shortage, but Bartl does not want to completely rule out this scenario for the future.

"We'll definitely be transporting school children rather than driving a hiking bus, for example."

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BRB capacities were sufficient on the Pentecost weekend

When asked, press spokeswoman Annette Luckner describes the weekend as a little more normal, “like the Pentecost holidays before Corona”.

“The trains were already full,” she says.

"But we didn't have to leave any people standing on the platform."

But there were no unusual occurrences.

Luckner is also pleased that the BRB employees did not have to turn away travelers with bicycles.

In its tips and tricks, the company had previously warned against taking a bicycle with you: "Put up your hiking boots instead of saddleing up your bike," says a BRB flyer.

A nine-hour train journey for nine euros: A couple from Regensburg, for example, agreed to this in order to visit Markus Wasmeier's open-air museum in Fischhausen by public transport.

With a one-way travel time of four and a half hours, it's a sporty undertaking, says Wasmeier.

"They were only there at noon and then had to leave again soon."

Wasmeier cannot give any detailed information on how many of his guests otherwise use the 9-euro ticket.

"I don't talk to all visitors." Although his parking lot is not quite as full as usual during the Whitsun holidays, that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone else walks over from Fischhausen train station.

Rather, Wasmeier has the impression that there is generally less going on in the district at the moment.

"Maybe this time many went further away on vacation."

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