Bavaria is preparing a joint competition with the Czech Republic for the connection Prague – Munich, the condition will be new trains
Bavaria is first looking for a carrier for three years of operation, a joint tender with the Czech Ministry will cover operations from 2026.
The Bavarian railway customer Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft (BEG) is planning a large international open competition with the Czech Ministry of Transport for the operation of trains between Prague and Munich.
“For the period from December 2026, in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport in the Czech Republic, there is a new tender for longer operation with the provision of new vehicles,“Said BEG in a press release to launch a competition for the temporary operation of trains on this route on German territory. The contract for the period from 2026 has not yet been announced, the competition has recently started in the period from 2023 to 2026.
In the competition, he is looking for a carrier who will ensure the operation of the lines in the Expressverkehr Ostbayern operating group. It also includes the Munich – Prague connection on German territory. In the Czech Republic, it is already certain that the operation will remain with České dráhy until 2026.
So far, these train rides are provided under the Alex Die Länderbahn (DLB) brand, BEG has extended the contract by one year until 2023. The deadline for bids is in August, the winner wants BEGt by October. In the past, the carrier has faced major problems with non-compliance with quality standards. Delays and outages were then moved to operation in the Czech Republic.
The competition will bring a change in the operating concept from 2023. There is still a combined train from Munich, which in Schwandorf will be divided into a train to Prague and a train to the Bavarian Hof. From December 2023, the traffic will be different: once every two hours the train will go to Prague, once every two hours to Hof. This eliminates the disconnection of trains in Schwandorf (and the connection in the case of trains from Prague) and possibly also waiting for a delayed connection from one branch. From this step, BEG promises to improve the accuracy of trains to the Czech Republic.
The Bavarian side is to ensure a big competition for the operation of trains from 2026. In a similar way, the German customer chose a carrier for the Liberec-Varnsdorf cross-border connection in the past thanks to its involvement in the operating set from Dresden to Zittau.
The new order is completely described on BEG website.
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