Politicians are calling for rapid electrification of the railway lines in the Oberland.
Most recently, he came from Deputy District Administrator Jens Zangenfeind (FWG) at the Dialogue Forum Bahn (we reported).
District
- If you ask the relevant authorities, it seems that the wish can hardly be fulfilled.
Trains of the Bavarian Regiobahn are currently running between Munich, Bayrischzell, Tegernsee and Lenggries.
It will stay that way until the end of 2026.
Whether the company will continue to serve these routes thereafter depends on the outcome of the tender.
"The plan is to start tendering in the summer of 2023," said the responsible Bavarian railway company on request.
The award announced a year ago shows that the new Lint trains will continue to be used.
No surprise.
The crux is rather: does it have to stay that way until the end of the contract period?
In the preliminary publication there is talk of a period of "at least six years", now the BEG specifies: "According to the current status, a contract period from December 2026 to December 2034 is planned.
Switching to electricity in the middle of the contract difficult
Of course, it is possible to build the overhead lines while the railway is running.
Switching to electricity in the middle of a contract period is rather difficult.
The Ministry of Transport writes: "The electrification of a railway line means that other vehicles have to be used, the staff have to be trained accordingly and the maintenance facilities have to be converted." The BEG adds: "For practical and economic reasons, it makes sense to coordinate the times." Nevertheless, it is conceivable to include termination and extension options in the tender.
Arnulf Schuchmann, the managing director of Bayerische Regiobahn, is highly skeptical about a switch in the middle of the advertised period.
"I'm curious to see what's in the advertisement." Certainly not just him.
The state of affairs is that the preliminary planning of the railway company is still pending.
It should be finished this year.
The Tegernsee Bahn, which owns the infrastructure between Schaftlach and Tegernsee, has already done this.
This preliminary planning is already very detailed, says Managing Director Michael Bourjau, and also provides for the type and location of masts.
"A layman might consider it to be the right plan." Bourjau can also say something about the costs for his area: It would cost between 15 and 16 million euros to electrify the 12.4 kilometers.
For comparison: The entire route network between Munich and the three terminal stations in the Oberland is 120 kilometers, with the 36 kilometers to Holzkirchen already being electrified.
This is also a point that speaks for the continuation of the wires to the south, according to the Ministry of Transport.
"We only have to build an overhead line on part of the route in order to be able to drive electrically on the entire route.
This means a lot of benefits at limited costs.” Ultimately, District Administrator Olaf von Löwis (CSU) also considers electrification to be “probably the right way”.
Of course, an infrastructural change entails numerous adjustments.
"But if these make sense and are important in the medium to long term, you have to start on this path."
Aigner: Cordless trains too expensive in the long term
Ilse Aigner, a member of the constituency, keeps receiving inquiries about battery trains.
She doesn't think this is the right way.
She assumes that “the procurement and operation of battery hybrid trains will continue to be significantly more expensive in the future.
So there are one-off investments for electrification, which are also heavily subsidized by the federal government, compared to the long-term higher operating costs for battery operation, which the Free State would have to bear from the regionalization funds," says a statement.
In the light of this, overhead lines are the more economical solution.
According to Bahn itself (www.bahnausbau-muenchen.de), the following points speak in favor of electricity as an energy source: better punctuality thanks to electric railcars with higher lane width, CO2 savings, NO2 and noise reduction and lower energy consumption.
Zangenfeind had mentioned to our newspaper the use of double-decker trains, which could provide relief, especially at weekends.
Incidentally, the Greens member of the Bundestag, Karl Bär from Holzkirchen, was also present at the dialogue forum of the Ministry of Transport.
He spoke to Minister Christian Bernreiter about a timetable for electrification, and he did not receive an answer either, but was allowed to listen to a tirade against the traffic light government.
In this context, he wants to point out that it is up to Bavaria to call up the increased federal funding: "After the positive vote in the test of the railway, this must now be done quickly," he demands.
Start of construction unclear
The statement by the Ministry of Transport to our newspaper gives little hope for that.
In any case, Bernreiter's house cannot be scheduled to start construction, and if the railways submit their preliminary plans this year, it will probably only contain the schedule up to the start (!) of the approval process.
The latter can then take just as much time as the subsequent tender for the construction work.
Last but not least, there is also resistance to masts and contact wires in the Oberland, which is why some are already whispering that electrification will never come at all.
It is certainly not a mistake to prepare for longer diesel operation of the trains in the Oberland.
At best, you can be pleasantly surprised.