Go-Ahead and Abellio awarded Baden-Wurttemberg rail contract

The Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure for the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg has awarded three contracts to Go-Ahead and Abellio to run Stuttgart Network 1 passenger services.

Transport authority Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (NVBW) has awarded contracts for lot 1a, 1b and 1c of the Stuttgart network covering 14.8 million train kilometres a year. Abellio Deutschland will operate lot 1a covering 6.8 million kilometres of track in the Neckar Valley. The operator plans to introduce 43 Bombardier Talent 2 EMUs to the service covering three routes:

Lot 1a

• Stuttgart – Muhlacker – Pforzheim / Bruchsal
• Stuttgart – Heilbronn – Mannheim/Osterburken
• Stuttgart – Tubingen

Stephan Krenz, Managing Director of Abellio Deutschland: “With the takeover of the largest lot in the Stuttgart Network, Abellio will deliver its business in one of the highest income and economically important cities of Germany and Europe. We shall also demonstrate how to successfully bring millions of passengers professionally, safely on time to their destination whilst experiencing high comfort. I am very pleased that Abellio will now successfully be expanding to the Southwest of Germany, alongside the already existing companies in North Rhine-Westphalia and Central Germany.”

Go-Ahead and Abellio Baden-Wurttemberg rail contract covers 14.8 million train kilometres a year

Engelhardt Robbe, CEO of Abellio Group, added: “Winning Stuttgarter Netz is an outstanding achievement of our team in Germany. This shows that Abellio is a thriving company now adding its 3rd operating company to its portfolio in Germany. But above all, this is excellent news for the passengers in Stuttgart who will be experiencing travelling the Abellio Way.”

Go-Ahead Group’s German operating division, Go-Ahead Verkehrsgesellschaft Deutschland GmbH, will operate the remaining lots 1b and 1c covering 3.7 million train kilometres and 4.4 million train kilometres each year respectively. The routes will cover:

Lot 1b

• Stuttgart – Aalen – Crailsheim
• Stuttgart – Geislingen – Ulm

Lot 1c

• Stuttgart – Aalen
• Stuttgart – Karlsruhe
• Stuttgart – Heilbronn – Lauda – Würzburg

The operator expects to generate combined revenues of around €1.6bn over the life of the contracts.

Go-Ahead Chief Executive, David Brown, said: “We have 18 years’ experience providing passenger rail services in UK rail operating on busy and complex networks and we are pleased to be able to bring our expertise in the German rail market.”

The preferred bidder contracts are currently subject to a statutory objection period of ten days which will become official on 27 November 2015. Once signed, Abellio and Go-ahead will begin operation of network services from June 2019 until 2032.