GERMANY: Rheinland-Pfalz Süd transport authority ZSPNV Süd has awarded DB Regio and Netinera two 22½-year contracts to operate Dieselnetzes Südwest passenger services.
The contract awarded to DB Regio runs from December 2015 and covers 3 million train-km/year using Lint 41 and 54 DMUs to be delivered by Alstom. DB Regio will operate the following routes:
- Neustadt - Bad Dürkheim - Grünstadt - Monsheim
- Frankenthal - Freinsheim - Grünstadt - Ramsen (Eiswoog)
- Worms - Alzey - Bingen
- Worms - Biblis
- Worms - Bensheim
- Weinheim - Fürth/Odenwald
The second contract was awarded to Regentalbahn, part of FS subsidiary Netinera. It runs from December 2014, and covers 7 million train-km/year using Lint 54 and 81 DMUs on the following routes:
- Mainz - Alzey - Kirchheimbolanden
- Frankfurt - Mainz - Bad Kreuznach - Idar Oberstein - Saarbrücken
- Mainz - Bad Kreuznach - Kaiserslautern
- Mainz - Idar Oberstein - Baumholder/Türkismühle
Regentalbahn will also operate a regional express service between Kaiserslautern, Rockenhausen, Bingen and Koblenz from December 2016, and passenger services are to be reinstated on the Heimbach - Baumholder line.
- UniCredit Leasing has provided Netinera Deutschland with a €73·2m loan to fund the purchase of seven GTW and eight double-deck trainsets from Stadler for use around Berlin.
