GERMANY: Veolia Verkehr has won a contract to provide about 40% of local rail services in the Leipzig region for two years from December 2009. The private company will take over 12 routes totalling 219 km from DB Regio and operate around 3 million train-km a year.

The Leipzig transport authority had originally planned to let a contract to coincide with completion of the €571m cross-city tunnel, when S-Bahn and other local services will be reorganised. Delays in building the tunnel mean that a two-year gap between contracts has opened up, and Veolia negotiated an interim deal running to 2011.

A fresh round of tenders is expected for the future Mitteldeutsche S-Bahn network which will operate through the tunnel, and Veolia's Regional Operations Manager Andreas Trillmich has confirmed that his company will submit a bid when the tender is issued.

• Local trains along the right bank of the River Rhein between Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Koblenz will be run by Vias GmbH from December 2010. The company, owned 50% by Rurtalbahn GmbH and 50% by Frankfurt city transport operator VGF, will operate 2·1 million train-km a year, taking over from DB Regio. Air-conditioned EMUs will run at hourly intervals with additional services during peak hours.