S-Bahn: 337 disruptions in two months

Created: 04/10/2022, 06:00

By: Hans Moritz

It often gets tight on the S-Bahn line 2 from Munich to Erding.

Encounters on the mostly single-track route regularly cause delays.

© Hans Moritz

20 mayors write a complaint to the railway.

However, improvements are not in sight.

Erding

– Erding's mayor Max Gotz is angry.

The problems on the S-Bahn line 2 between Erding and Munich are becoming unbearable for him.

What annoys the CSU politician no less: Deutsche Bahn does not even respond to complaints from local politicians.

Three years ago, the mayors of 16 municipalities contacted DB-Regio at the instigation of the city of Erding.

"We didn't even get an answer," Gotz rumbled in the city council.

At that time, the "considerable disruption to commuter traffic on line S 2" was pointed out.

Since then, "there have been no noticeable improvements".

On the contrary: "The performance of the S 2 has continued to decrease." This is in a new letter that Gotz has now sent to DB-Regio on behalf of what are now 20 municipalities.

The heads of town hall criticize: "The frequent unpunctuality and the cancellation or premature end of the trains, especially for regular passengers, are an unacceptable burden," says the letter available to our newspaper.

Gotz criticizes that "in many cases the connections already end in Markt Schwaben, which means that punctual arrival between Markt Schwaben and Erding is no longer guaranteed".

But Gotz doesn't just level criticism, he did some research: Between June 21st and September 2nd of this year alone, 337 fault reports were recorded on the Erding-Munich route.

That's more than 4.5 per day just on one line.

In addition, there have been delays of up to 15 minutes since the train between Poing and Riem “set up a slow-moving zone at certain times of the day”.

The situation is exacerbated by “the lack of information management by the railways”.

And then the mayor and his fellow mayors get their money.

As is well known, the 9-euro ticket expired in September.

"The cost of an Isarcard for zone M5 of 1,905 euros is clearly too high in view of the poor reliability of line S 2," the letter says.

In addition to the mayor of Erding, his colleagues from Markt Schwaben, Wartenberg, Langenpreising, Berglern, Walpertskirchen, Wörth, Neuching, Ottenhofen, Pastetten, Buch, Steinkirchen, Hohenpolding, Inning, Kirchberg, Bockhorn, Finsing, Forstinning, Pliening and Fraunberg signed the fire letter.

They demand that Deutsche Bahn "finally make the urgent improvements".

also read

Brazen thieves in farm shops on the way: the operator defends himself - and describes scenes that are ready for film

"Marriage at First Sight"

Gotz reported to the city council that he had expressed his displeasure last week on the supervisory board of the Bavarian Railway Company (BEG).

He hasn't received an answer yet.

The problem with the Munich S-Bahn has also reached the state government, and not just because of the disaster surrounding the second main line.

As reported, Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU) presented the “Strong S-Bahn Munich – Program 14plus” initiative last week.

This bundles 20 measures to achieve network improvements before the second tube in Munich is completed.

These include some projects that affect the region.

By December of this year, there will be a continuous 20-minute cycle to the terminal stations from Monday to Friday.

In 2023, Deutsche Bahn plans to put the new electronic interlocking at Munich Ostbahnhof into operation.

The current signal box produces a significant proportion of the current disturbances.

The second track between the St. Koloman and Aufhausen stops is scheduled to go into operation in 2028 - an important prerequisite for more train and oncoming traffic, also with regard to the S-Bahn ring closure to the airport (which is still a long way off).

Last but not least, the Ringschluss section from the airport to Schwaigerloh is to go online “in stages” between 2025 and 2028, according to the Ministry of Transport.

For Erdinger and airport commuters - they are currently dependent on the 512 bus - this does not mean any improvement.