Parents' taxi instead of the school bus: Grafenaschauer children miss connections in Murnau - that causes frustration

Created: 10/29/2022, 6:14 p.m

Departs on time: the midday bus that runs from Murnau train station to Grafenaschau.

However, it starts too early for the students who come from Garmisch-Partenkirchen with the replacement bus.

© Dominik Bartl

Grafenaschau parents are annoyed.

Because you children miss the school bus connection in Murnau.

There is a coordination problem.

Grafenaschau/Murnau

- "We always fall behind" - this is how Conny Brunn sums up the situation.

The Grafenaschauer, who also sits on the municipal council and has two school children in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is annoyed by the lack of coordination between the regular bus service and the rail replacement service (SEV).

Specifically, she is concerned with the coordination with the school bus route 9621, which is operated by the RVO.

Your children depend on this line if they want to go home from Murnau station in the direction of Grafenaschau.

When the trains were still running regularly before the train accident in Burgrain, changing trains was not a problem: from the time the train arrived at 1:32 p.m. to the scheduled departure of the bus at Murnau station at 1:47 p.m., there was still enough buffer.

In times of rail replacement traffic, however, the buses from Garmisch-Partenkirchen and to Grafenaschau regularly miss each other - and only by a few minutes.

The SEV bus from Garmisch arrived in Murnau at 1.50 p.m. or even later.

No chance for the children to get home from school on time.

The result: Conny Brunn and the other Grafenaschauer parents have to organize themselves via WhatsApp group and pick up the children at the Murnau train station every day.

The district office reacted to the problem and instructed the RVO to wait ten minutes at the Murnau train station.

In this way, the connection between the rail replacement service and the regular bus service should be ensured.

This tactic works more badly than right - some bus drivers wait, others don't.

This is made more difficult by the fact that the bus drivers change frequently on the line, making it difficult to communicate the new directive.

Chaos already begins in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

The chaos in rail replacement traffic often begins in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, explains Conny Brunn.

"One bus stops in Oberau and doesn't go any further, in Garmisch some children are sent off the buses.

One bus arrives in Murnau, the other doesn't."

In fact, the children from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen schools have not had a reliable bus connection since the end of the summer holidays.

Only the Murnau students could use the connection to Grafenaschau without any problems.

Brunn and her children often meet the bus on their way back to Grafenaschau.

When they reach Hermannswies, they pass the vehicle – which is driving the same route almost empty.

The responsible RVO branch in Weilheim could not be reached for a statement.

Directive doesn't work

Florian Diepold-Erl from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district office regrets that the instruction to the bus driver rarely works in practice.

At noon there are no express buses to Murnau.

Unfortunately, the connection to Grafenaschau is often not possible if the bus drivers do not wait for the rail replacement service out of ignorance.

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On top of that, Brunn and the other parents have to finance the pick-up service out of their own pockets – the fuel costs have not yet been reimbursed.

Günter Hopfensperger is responsible for student transport in the district office and sees little financial opportunity to compensate the parents.

In principle, the connection is secured by the directive, so reimbursements cannot simply be paid out as a lump sum.

If at all, it must be checked in each individual case, taking into account the individual travel time and the age of the children, whether compensation is possible.

The situation is a nuisance for the Grafenaschauer – the mayor of Schwaigen, Hubert Mangold (UVV), also wishes the students would improve.

He praises the good contact with the district office, which tried to find a solution with the "10-minute variant".

The ball is now with the RVO, which has to ensure the connection to the SEV buses.

According to Diepold-Erl, an end to the misery is soon in sight.

He receives weekly information from the infrastructure operator DB Netz about the progress of the construction work on the railway line.

Accordingly, the sections from Murnau to Garmisch-Partenkirchen on November 16th, from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Mittenwald on December 10th and from Murnau to Oberammergau on December 11th are to be released again.

If the trains roll, the changeover is possible again according to plan.

Aaron Jungwirth

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