The railway company Go-Ahead will only be able to start with a limited offer when it takes over the important Swabian regional railway network around Augsburg in December. As the private railway provider reported on Wednesday, there are not enough train drivers available due to the nationwide shortage of skilled workers. Go-Ahead does not intend to offer the regular timetable until June 2023. Until then, individual connections will be canceled – in some cases, a replacement bus service is also planned. Go-Ahead spoke of a “start with obstacles”.
Managing director Fabian Amini said that it should be avoided that customers are confronted with canceled trains every day. “That’s why we prefer to reduce it from the start and make it public so that passengers can prepare for it.”
In 2018, the company won the tender for the high-passenger regional train line from Munich via Augsburg to Ulm. So far, Deutsche Bahn (DB) has operated the route with its “Fugger Express”. In addition, from December 11, Go-Ahead is to travel from Augsburg via Donauwörth to Aalen in Baden-Württemberg. The route further to Franconia via Treuchtlingen and Ansbach to Würzburg is also part of the Augsburg network. The provider has been driving the Allgäu route between Munich and Lindau since last year.
Since 2019, Go-Ahead has also been active on several routes in Baden-Württemberg. The German Go-Ahead companies are subsidiaries of an international group based in England, which operates bus and train lines in several European countries and Singapore.