GERMANY: Bayern railway authority BEG is negotiating a private funding model that could facilitate the reintroduction of passenger services on the 24 km Dombühl – Feuchtwangen – Dinkelsbühl line.
The route is leased from DB by BayernBahn and has only carried freight and heritage trains since regular passenger services ceased in 1985. However, a feasibility study undertaken in 2012 estimated that a revived service could carry 1000 passengers/day.
Under the proposed funding scheme, BayernBahn would obtain private finance for the estimated €4·65m cost of reactivation, underwritten by guaranteed usage payments from the Land. The guarantees would run to 2030, when the Dieselnetz Nürnberg operating contract expires.
