December 11 is the timetable change on the rails – and like every year, it brings with it innovations for Bavaria’s commuters. Probably the biggest changes await train travelers in Swabia and Franconia, where Go-Ahead is taking over several routes. According to the Bavarian Railway Company (BEG), “several improvements in the timetable” are planned, which are initially canceled due to a lack of drivers. Between Augsburg and Dinkelscherben, for example, the 30-minute cycle on Saturdays planned for route RB 86 will only start in the course of 2023. Also new is the RE 80 between Munich and Würzburg, which runs every two hours via Augsburg, Treuchtlingen and Ansbach. There is a new stop on this line with Würzburg-Heidingsfeld Ost. “To increase the stability of the timetable”, the RE 9 between Munich and Ulm only has a direct connection every two hours.
The biggest innovation in southern Upper Bavaria is the approach to the status quo before the serious train accident near Garmisch-Partenkirchen in June. After that, nothing worked for the Werdenfelsbahn for months, and Deutsche Bahn checked the rails, ballast and sleepers. Now the trains around Murnau and Garmisch should run more regularly again. For 2023, however, there is a risk of further renovation work and restrictions. For the route from Traunstein to Ruhpolding there is another change of operator, albeit a smaller one: the Bavarian Regiobahn is taking over with new trains that should offer more space for school transport.
From now on, the Munich-Nuremberg-Express (RE 1) will also run hourly on weekends on the section between Nuremberg and Ingolstadt, in addition to the previous hourly service between Munich and Ingolstadt. The RB 36 line also runs hourly between Zwiesel and Grafenau. There are also additional journeys from Monday to Friday on the RB 51 between Neumarkt and Regensburg as well as in Nuremberg night traffic: the S-Bahn 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 run until at least two o’clock in the morning, sometimes even until four o’clock.
However, there is also a threat of price changes – upwards. Long-distance Deutsche Bahn tickets will be an average of 4.9 percent more expensive. The company justifies this with higher costs, such as energy. At the turn of the year, fares in the Nuremberg transport association will increase by an average of 3.02 percent – and in Regensburg by as much as 7.2 percent.