VDV 2015 Public transport by rail in Germany 19.03.2015, Rome
Oliver Wolff
Slide 2
VDV 2015 Railbound public transport in Germany basic
information about legal base and market principles The organisation
of the market depends on the egal basis of railbound public
transport Tram, Underground (PBefG, i. e. public transport law
[bus/tram/metro]) Railway (AEG, i. e. railway law / law on railways
[local rail passenger transport (SPNV)]) Common principles for all
modes of public transport Integration of timetables for urban,
sub-urban and regional transport Definition of local transport:
majority of rides 50 km or 60 minutes travel time Public transport
is organised in public sevice contracts, i. e. from an
entrepreneurial viewpoint the level of service offered wouldnt be
profitable Matching expectations of passengers (customers):
Passengers do not distinguish between trams and railway services /
it is up to the transport companies and public transport
authorities to meet the passengers expectations Different parts of
the public transport system take different functions within: Urban
transport, regional transport / less stops, many stops / shuttle
services on particular lines, networks Railways offer all of these
elements more or less, depending on the situation on-site
19.03.2015Oliver Wolff, Public transport services by railway in
Germany 2
Slide 3
VDV 2015 What means S-Bahn? Today, the term S-Bahn (rapid
transit) first of all covers marketing aspects, adressing
particular expectations: High frequency services in/to
agglomeration area, short distances between single stops (normally
between 800 and 2.000 m), long operating times, level access to
train No clear distinction between rapid transit in a narrow sense
(e. g. Berlin) and rapid transit in a broader sense (for marketing
reasons some regional networks are called S- Bahn as well)
Additionally: Tram-train services in Karlsruhe are partly named
S-Bahn As to technical and operational rules, there are some
exceptions for rapid transit; nevertheless, they are part of
railway system in Germany Exemptions concern e.g. signalling, track
distance, cross section of tunnels, level of platform (rapid
transit: normally 96 cm) Historical background: rapid transit
systems in Berlin and Hamburg operate with different power supplies
(direct current, conductor rails) on isolated networks But from the
legal point of view there is no difference between rapid transit
and other services, so rapid transit is operated under the same
legal framework like all railways. 19.03.2015Oliver Wolff, Public
transport services by railway in Germany 3
Slide 4
VDV 2015 Example: Map of integrated public transport system
(railbound) in Cologne agglomeration 19.03.2015Oliver Wolff, Public
transport services by railway in Germany 4 Source:
www.vrs-info.de
Slide 5
VDV 2015 Example: Map of integrated public transport system
(railbound) in Karlsruhe agglomeration 19.03.2015Oliver Wolff,
Public transport services by railway in Germany 5 Source:
www.kvv.de
Slide 6
VDV 2015 Competition for the market, structure of purchaser
market Open access on German railway network since 1.1.1994 incl.
local / regional passenger services Problem of local / regional
passenger services: Not profitable regarding customersexpectations
and political targets/expectations. No public transport service
without sufficient public finance, earnings by ticket sales are
actually covering about 40 % of the costs of these services
Solution: Two-step market: transport authorities award public
service contracts to railway companies (step 1); railway companies
offer their services to customers (step 2). The federal goverment
transfers an amount of federal value added tax to the German
Provinces (Bundeslnder), consolidated by law The Provinces
themselves are responsible for organisation and implementation of
public service contracts. Effects up to now: Additional public
services by railways since 1996 (supply: +25%) and remarkable
success in terms of passenger demand (> 40 %). 19.03.2015Oliver
Wolff, Public transport services by railway in Germany 6
Slide 7
VDV 2015 Public sector Transport authorities = purchaser of
public transport (railways) / tendering and awarding public service
contracts 27 transport authorities actually order about 650 million
train- kilometers per annum, contracts usually fixed for 10, 12 or
15 years, size of contracts 3,5 Mio. train- kilometers on average,
in particular cases up to 10 Mio. train-kilometers 19.03.2015Oliver
Wolff, Public transport services by railway in Germany 7 Source:
www.bag-spnv.de
Slide 8
VDV 2015 Purchaser Market, the contractors point of view
Contractor = Railway company Business chance depends on the way the
transport authority awards the contracts In general: Does the
transport authority award the contract in an (open) tender? Europe:
choice between open tendering and direct awarding Germany:
Tendering procedure In detail: What kind of offer the bidders are
allowed to submit? Bidders scopes for suggestions and initiatives
concerning the transport concept may vary, e. g. transport
companies as carriers only against companies allowed to use their
individual experiences and skills Allocation of opportunities and
risks between purchaser and contractor, e. g. responsibility for
costs and earnings (ticket sales) or costs only Value-added share /
companies responsibility for the complete public service might be
restricted by the public authority (e. g. split up of contracts:
procurement and maintenance of trains, operating service,
distribution of tickets) 19.03.2015Oliver Wolff, Public transport
services by railway in Germany 8
Slide 9
VDV 2015 20 years experience with open access and
liberalisation: todays market structure Purchaser market actually
performed by: German Railway Further state owned railways of
neighboring countries (via holdings or subsidiary companies)
Railway companies owned by local governments (long tradition in
Germany: so called nichtbundeseigene Eisenbahnen, i. e. railways
not owned by the federal state) By numbers: > 60 operating
companies (> 40 within structures, 20 stand-alone) Market
leader: DB Regio & subsidiaries (about 74 % market share by
train kilometers) Main competitors: NETINERA, Veolia, BeNEX,
Hessische Landesbahn (each incl. subsidiaries), Abellio, Keolis,
National Express (start of operation in December 2015), some more
locally acting companies Former expectations, not realised yet
Nearly no private-owned railway companies (still about 90 %
directly or indirectly owned by public governments) Very little
companies coming from other parts of the public transport system,
e. g. local transport comapies (legal reasons: in-house
procurement) Maybe soon: spreading the traditional structure of
transport services will give chances to (e. g.) train manufacturing
industry (and might give disadvantages to some existing railway
companies) 9 19.03.2015Oliver Wolff, Public transport services by
railway in Germany
Slide 10
VDV 2015 Timetable 2015 Overview of local / regional rail
services Operating companies and lines 19.03.2015Oliver Wolff,
Public transport services by railway in Germany 10 Source:
www.bag-spnv.de
Slide 11
VDV 2015 Agglomeration areas cause special challenges Public
transport in agglomeration areas causes special challenges for
public authorities as well as for companies Highly differentiated
and complex, e. g. Planning processes (interfaces, integration of
time tables, limited availability of track capacity) Calculation
(investment needed, staff requirement as a bottleneck) Starting the
public transport service, fulfilling the contract Contract itself
(allocation of risks, contractual penalty, controlling the
contract) Performance of the system is highly depending on
infrastructure Main lines often without any capacity left =
disturbances cause extensive effects on each company and the
transport system in general Success might be boon or bane? Increase
of demand urgently needs for an increase of supply, but
infrastructure capacity is in many (nearly all?) urban areas the
decisive limiting factor 19.03.2015Oliver Wolff, Public transport
services by railway in Germany 11
Slide 12
VDV 2015 Agglomeration areas cause special challenges
Complexity of agglomeration areas is visible as well when regarding
the starting of competition in public railway transport - competion
started in rural areas: Regional lines, small networks Smaller lots
(partly < 1 Mio. train kilometers, today 3,5 Mio. train
kilometers on average) Comparatively less demand / smaller vehicles
sufficient, diesel locos or dmu Less lines in the public transport
system in general, that means less need for coordination Less
companies operating in the (regional) market, that means less
complexity of contracts Tendering procedures for all public
transport services by rail are mandatory, therefore more complex
contracts have been awarded since several years even rapid transit,
nevertheless: Market share of DB Regio as general market leader in
agglomeration areas still above the average (competitors market
share in rapid transit: < 10 %) 19.03.2015Oliver Wolff, Public
transport services by railway in Germany 12
Slide 13
VDV 2015 Challenges for the next years (examples / 1) Financial
engagement: If the financial basis will be sufficient for the next
years is yet not clear = negative signal regarding the
attractiveness of the purchaser market for companies and their
stakeholders > 50 % of public finance (purchaser market) is
spent for infrastructure use, propably even more tomorrow = badly
needed transport services, especially in urban areas might not be
financed any longer. Tendering procedures, especially of complex
systems, do absorb numerous resources. Which company will be able
to work on an offer? Will there be enough engagement left for
smaller, possibly less attractive contracts? Transport authorities
new approaches of dividing public transport service in single
elements show both advantages and disadvantages. It is not sure, in
which way the market structure will change as a consequence. New
vehicles as a bottleneck: Will availability and technical
registration of vehicles soon be sufficient again? Is it realistic
to assume a satisfying range of standardisation at least in the
medium- run and thus reduce the risk of trains re-use?
19.03.2015Oliver Wolff, Public transport services by railway in
Germany 13
Slide 14
VDV 2015 Challenges for the next years (examples / 2)
Additional challenges for companies and transport authorities, e.
g. Demographical change, change of mobility needs and requirements
Change of relationship in competition: long-distance bus services
permitted by now, new mobility offers in terms of organisation and
information, search engines covering all transport modes. Technical
challenges: public transport must save, at least regain its margin
as a environmentally friendly system All-over information:
Availability of (real-time) information and communication shows
advantages as well as disadvantages of the public transport system
respectively its performance A marketing question: the general
image of public transport should (at least) be as good as it really
is. Staff procurement (esp. train drivers) is one of the decisive,
strategic challenges across the whole sector. 19.03.2015Oliver
Wolff, Public transport services by railway in Germany 14