The Bavarian Railway Company (BEG) and the Czech Ministry of Transport have issued a new tender for regional transport on the Munich-Prague route. The route runs from Munich Central Station via Regensburg, Schwandorf, Furth im Wald, Domažlice and Pilsen to Prague.
The contract begins in December 2027 and runs for 15 years until December 2042, as the BEG announced on Tuesday. From December 2023 to December 2027, the Länderbahn will operate the route on the German side every two hours.
The subsequent order will be awarded in a Europe-wide procedure under the leadership of the BEG, which plans, finances and controls the regional and S-Bahn traffic in Bavaria on behalf of the Free State. The BEG is expected to award the contract in March 2024. The tender network also includes a pair of trains that travel from Hof via Regensburg to Munich in the morning and back again in the evening.
A new feature is a continuous late connection from Prague via Schwandorf to Munich and in the opposite direction from Munich via Schwandorf to Domažlice. “The Cham/Furth im Wald area also benefits from this.” The BEG and the Czech Ministry of Transport require air-conditioned new vehicles with WiFi as passenger coaches. The trains on the cross-border line should offer cold and warm food and drinks in the on-board bistro.
The railway operator receives target values for punctuality and cleanliness of the trains, functionality of the equipment and passenger information. If the requirements are not met, penalties are due, if they are exceeded there is a financial bonus.