S-Bahn monopoly
January 8, 2010
Berlin announced on Thursday that it would attempt to break the monopoly rail giant Deutsche Bahn has on its commuter train network, the S-Bahn.
Berlin's city development senator, Ingeborg Junge-Reyer, said Deutsche Bahn's contract to run the sytsem, which expires in 2017, "could in no way be renewed considering the current state of the S-Bahn."
Junge-Reyer said Berlin could only break the Deutsche Bahn monopoly of the S-Bahn network in steps. She proposed beginning by issuing a public tender for a quarter of the network next year.
She said it was not feasible at this point to put up a tender to run the entire S-Bahn network, given the immense costs and time connected with production of S-Bahn trains. Currently the trains are exclusively produced and operated by Deutsche Bahn.
A year of S-Bahn chaos
Only around 60 percent of all S-Bahn trains are in operation in Berlin. In May and again in September, most of the rolling stock of trains had to be taken out of service to undergo repairs on wheels and brakes.
For several weeks after the September recall, several lines had no trains at all and on other lines trains were running every 20 minutes, compared with every 10 minutes under normal circumstances. The disruptions caused massive overcrowding and anger among commuters.
Deutsche Bahn has said it will return service to normal at some point during 2010, pledging in an official statement to "win back the confidence of Berlin's passengers."
Deutsche Bahn board member Ulrich Homburg said on Thursday that the company intended to continue full operation of the Berlin S-Bahn, despite the Senate's threats.
"We are working to offer passengers a reliable means of public transportation as soon as possible, from the technical, financial, and personnel perspective," he said.
Homburg added that Deutsche Bahn was considering compensating passengers for the disruptions and also further lowering costs charged to Berlin.
The Berlin Senate has said it plans to deduct 4.5 million euros ($6.4 million) from its January payment for S-Bahn services, as it did last month. The Senate has said it will continue to make deductions until train services are returned to normal.
The Berlin S-Bahn, by far Germany's largest city transportation network, costs the German capital over 500 million euros per year. Deutsche Bahn also runs the commuter train networks in Cologne, Hamburg and Munich.
glb/AP/dpa
Editor: Nancy Isenson