Centralbahn to provide services on the RE 78 line on behalf of eurobahn from 20 September

Düsseldorf, 28.08.2024. From 20 September, Centralbahn will temporarily provide train services on the RE 78 ("Porta-Express") line on behalf of eurobahn. This stabilisation measure will allow local rail passenger transport (SPNV) between Minden and Nienburg to be resumed. This had been replaced by bus services in the meantime due to staff shortages.

Until 30 September, eurobahn will continue to operate all journeys between Bielefeld and Minden as well as the morning journey at 07:04 from Rheda-Wiedenbrück. Centralbahn will take over all journeys between Minden and Nienburg. A direct transfer in Minden is planned, but cannot be confirmed at this time. From 1 October, all trains will once again run continuously between Bielefeld and Nienburg. Only in the period from 11 to 18 October will a major construction project be carried out in the Herford area, meaning that the RE 78 line will only be able to run on the Löhne - Nienburg section during this period.

With the commissioning of Centralbahn, older trains of the 425 series will initially be used again on the RE 78 line. Vehicles of this type ran between Bielefeld and Nienburg until 2017. Training is still required so that the Centralbahn train drivers can be deployed on the more modern eurobahn vehicles. The plan is to complete this by the end of the year, so that from 9 January 2025, only the familiar existing eurobahn vehicles will be running on the RE 78 again.

"By using Centralbahn, we are creating a solution that will stabilise the RE 78 line. Our aim is still to ensure long-term planning security and to return to the original timetable as quickly as possible under our own steam. Until we get that far, we will do everything we can to improve the situation for our passengers, as we have done here by commissioning Centralbahn ," says Karsten Schulz, Technical Managing Director of eurobahn.

eurobahn has had to temporarily reduce its timetables in order to ensure that operations are as reliable and stable as possible. The background to this is the increasing shortage of skilled labour in the entire regional rail transport industry, which is currently particularly tense at eurobahn

The existing transport contract with eurobahn continues to apply in full and is not affected by this temporary measure. In order to further stabilise operations, the company and the responsible public transport authorities Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL) and Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LNVG) are currently examining further options for temporary support from other rail transport companies. DB Regio has already been providing train services on the RE 82 ("Der Leineweber") line operated by eurobahn since 26 August.