GERMANY: ‘More frequent journeys, more capacity and greater comfort, together with tariffs such as the RMV prepaid discount, are our recipe for getting even more passengers on the Ländchesbahn’, said RMV Managing Director Knut Ringat when the Rhein-Main transport authority announced that Hessische Landesbahn had been awarded a contract to continue operating service RB21 from Wiesbaden to Niedernhausen and Limburg.
The next contract runs for 10 years from December 2022, with two options for one-year extensions.
Ringat said the contract would secure recent service increases, and provide longer trains and additional journeys trains and later evening services. The trains currently operate every half hour on weekdays, and hourly on weekends.
‘When we took over operations on the Ländchesbahn seven years ago, the trains were mostly only running every hour’, said Veit Salzmann, Managing Director of Land-owned HLB Hessenbahn on November 4. ‘Today the trains are not only running almost twice as often, but also much later into the evening. This is a significant improvement for the passengers and an important contribution to mobility in the region.’
RMV’s rolling stock subsidiary Fahma will provide the operator with a replacement fleet of 10 Alstom Lint 41 DMUs, which will increase the Ländchesbahn fleet by two units and provide better accessibility. Previously deployed on Taunus services, the units will be modernised with improved passenger information and free wi-fi.
From December 2021 RMV route RB22 will replace some RB21 services between Limburg and Niedernhausen on Sundays and public holidays. RB22 is operated with double-deck trainsets, which will provide more space for passengers and bicycles.T
