Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn GmbH (Odeg) wants to get the regular train cancellations and delays on the regional train line 1 between Cottbus and Magdeburg under control by the beginning of February, as company spokeswoman Dietmute Graf announced on Friday.
According to the timetable, the most important regional route in the capital region has been running every 20 minutes on the Stadtbahn line across Berlin since the timetable change on December 11, at least during peak traffic times. So far, however, Odeg has not been able to reliably keep its promises from the transport contract. Instead, passengers keep reporting high delays and cancellations on the line, which is particularly popular with commuters.The daily mirror app The latest news, background information and analyzes straight to your smartphone. Plus the digital newspaper. Download here for free.
The operator cites the high level of sick leave among locomotive and train personnel as the main problem, which is why a so-called basic timetable applies until the end of January. This promises at least two trains per hour on the Stadtbahn during peak hours. Currently, the situation has improved slightly, so that the third bar is “successively recorded”.
With the timetable change, the line went from Deutsche Bahn to the Odeg. According to the company, around 100 train drivers and 90 service employees are needed in local transport to ensure that everything runs smoothly along the entire route, and additional staff have been hired for this. Odeg is currently still registering a sick leave rate of ten to 15 percent.
Depending on the staff situation, individual trains also run on sections of the route as clock amplifiers, the times of which can be found in an overview that is updated daily (red tile on the start page). Since the beginning of the year, only half of these trains have been able to go on the route, and only since January 12 have the boosters stopped again at the Ostbahnhof.
Jens Wieseke, spokesman for the Berlin passenger association Igeb, also speaks of a “certain stabilization” of the situation. In addition to the sick leave, Wieseke sees another reason that makes it difficult to keep to the timetable: on the highly frequented light rail, the frequency of regional traffic has been increased: “More is not possible!”Odeg boss drives himself due to lack of staff in Berlin “I don’t want any more trains to be cancelled” Be careful, cell phone trap! This regional train in Brandenburg and Berlin “swallows” mobile phones “The capacities are completely exhausted” Who is to blame for the chaos on the Berlin Stadtbahn?
The question has been raised for a long time as to whether the infrastructure of the route between Charlottenburg and Ostkreuz can withstand three RE1 trains per hour during rush hour. If long-distance trains are delayed, this can also mess up the RE1 timetable. The operating concept for the RE1 is “sufficiently planned”, according to Odeg, with a view to infrastructure problems. Due to the tight schedule and heavy workload, there could be occasional problems with the times.
After all, another problem is close to being solved: the new Odeg RE1 trains are considered a “mobile phone trap”. About 20 devices were lost by passengers because they slipped from folding seats into a hard-to-reach box. This design flaw should be resolved by the end of March at the latest.