VIAS

VIAS GmbH
Founded	2005
Key people	Jochen Auler, Herbert Häner, Sebastian Nießen
Services	Rail services
Number of employees	210 (2016)
Website	www.vias-online.de

Last updated April 08, 2019

VIAS GmbH is a railway company based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It operates rail services in the states of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. The company's name is derived from the Latin "via" for "way" and the letter "s" for "service."

Hesse or Hessia, officially the State of Hesse, is a federal state (Land) of the Federal Republic of Germany, with just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden; the largest city is Frankfurt am Main.

Rhineland-Palatinate is a state of Germany.

North Rhine-Westphalia is a state of Germany.

Shareholdings

The company was founded in 2005 by Stadtwerke Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main (VGF, the municipal transport company of Frankfurt) and Rurtalbahn GmbH (RTB) of Düren with both companies having equal shareholdings.

Rurtalbahn is a railway company servicing the Rur valley from Linnich to Heimbach. Its major hub is Düren station, from where two train lines run to the two destinations.

Düren is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur.

In March 2010, Danish State Railways announced that it had taken over VGF's shareholding with the help of its subsidiary DSB Deutschland GmbH.^[1]

DSB, an abbreviation of Danske Statsbaner, is the largest Danish train operating company, and the largest in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, goods transport and railway maintenance are outside its scope. DSB runs a commuter rail system, called the S-train, in the area around the Danish capital, Copenhagen, that connects the different areas and suburbs in the greater metropolitan area. DSB used to operate some trains in Sweden, but has since August 2017 lost all their contracts.

History

On 22 October 2010, Düren-based VIAS DN2011 GmbH was founded by its shareholders, DSB Deutschland GmbH and R.A.T.H. GmbH with the aim of providing rail services.^[2] This company was first registered as VIAS Odenwaldbahn GmbH on 19 February 2014^[3] and renamed VIAS Rail GmbH on 22 June 2015.^[4] In the meantime R.A.T.H. GmbH had become its sole shareholder. On 13 December 2015, VIAS Rail GmbH took over the public transport services on the Odenwald network from VIAS GmbH.^[5]

Line network

Lines in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate

VIAS has operated the approximately 210-kilometre-long Odenwald Railway network on behalf of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) and the state of Baden-Württemberg since 11 December 2005. It has also operated the East Rhine Railway since 12 December 2010 and the Pfungstadt Railway since 10 December 2011. It now operates on the following lines:

The Odenwald Railway is a mainly single-tracked main line from Darmstadt and Hanau to Eberbach on the River Neckar, which crosses the Odenwald mountains in the German states of Hesse and Baden-Württemberg. Since 1882 the route has been operated throughout as a standard gauge line and since 2005 has been worked by diesel multiples owned by the VIAS private railway company.

The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund is the public transport network of the Frankfurt metropolitan area in Germany. Its head office is located in Hofheim im Taunus.

Baden-Württemberg is a state in southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the border with France. It is Germany’s third-largest state, with an area of 35,751 km² (13,804 sq mi) and 11 million inhabitants. Baden-Württemberg is a parliamentary republic and partly sovereign, federated state which was formed in 1952 by a merger of the states of Württemberg-Baden, Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern. The largest city in Baden-Württemberg is the state capital of Stuttgart, followed by Karlsruhe and Mannheim. Other cities are Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Pforzheim, Reutlingen and Ulm.

Number	Railway used	Route	Contract period	Rolling stock
RB 10	Taunus Railway, East Rhine Railway, Neuwied–Koblenz	Frankfurt Hbf – Frankfurt-Höchst – Mainz-Kastel – Wiesbaden Hbf – Eltville – Rüdesheim (Rhein) – Lorch (Rhein) – Lorchhausen – St. Goarshausen – Koblenz Hbf – Neuwied	12.12.2010 – 09.12.2023	FLIRT
RB 86	Odenwald Railway	Hanau Hbf – Seligenstadt (Hess) – Babenhausen (Hess) – Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach	11.12.2005 – 11.12.2027	Itino / Alstom Coradia LINT 54 ^[6]
RE 85		Frankfurt Hbf – Offenbach Hbf – Hanau Hbf – Seligenstadt (Hess) – Babenhausen (Hess) – Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach (–Höchst (Odenw) – Erbach (Odenw))		Itino / Alstom Coradia LINT 54 ^[6]
RB 82		Frankfurt Hbf – Darmstadt Nord – Reinheim (Odenw) – Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach – Höchst (Odenw) – Erbach (Odenw)		Itino
RE 80		Darmstadt Hbf – Darmstadt Nord – Reinheim (Odenw) – Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach – Höchst (Odenw) – Erbach (Odenw)
RB 81		Darmstadt Hbf – Darmstadt Nord – Reinheim (Odenw) – Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach – Höchst (Odenw) – Erbach (Odenw) – Eberbach
RB 66	Pfungstadt Railway	Darmstadt Hbf – Darmstadt-Eberstadt – Pfungstadt	10.12.2011 – 11.12.2027

The designation of the lines corresponds to the numbering of the RMV.

Since the commencement of operations in the Odenwald, 22 brand new Bombardier Itino diesel railcars have been supplied by the Fahrzeugmanagement Region Frankfurt RheinMain GmbH (fahma) for the operations. The maintenance takes place in the workshop of Odenwaldbahn-Infrastruktur GmbH in Michelstadt, which is also the location of the operating centre. Four more sets of the same type were ordered by the RMV in August 2007 due to a lack of capacity and were delivered in the spring of 2010. These are also used on the Pfungstadt Railway, which was restored to operation from the 2011/2012 timetable change.

In addition, VIAS also took over the RheingauLinie local service on the East Rhine Railway between Neuwied, Koblenz Hbf (and Stadtmitte), Wiesbaden Hbf and Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (RMV line 10) at the 2010/2011 timetable change in December 2010. 5 three-car and 14 four-car FLIRT electric multiple units were ordered for its operation.^[7]^[8]

In December 2013, VIAS Rail GmbH won the tender for the operation of the Odenwald Railway and the Pfungstadt Railway. The new contract is valid from December 2015 for 12 years. The existing Itino sets will continue to be used, although adjustments to capacity have been made for some journeys. At least one train conductor is present in addition to the driver for all journeys.^[9]

Lines in North Rhine-Westphalia

On 26 March 2015, the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr and Nahverkehr Rheinland (Rhineland local transport association) announced that VIAS would operate the North Rhine-Westphalia Regionalbahn services RB 34 (Schwalm-Nette-Bahn from Mönchengladbach to Dalheim) and the northern part of the RB 38 service (the Erft-Bahn from Düsseldorf via Grevenbroich to Bedburg) from the timetable change on 10 December 2017.^[10] The RB 38 would no longer use its whole former route from the timetable change; instead passengers would have to change in Bedburg. The northern part is operated by VIAS and has been renamed the RB 39. The transport association for the Rhineland (Nahverkehr Rheinland—Rhineland local transport) plans to electrify the southern (Bedburg-Cologne) section and operate it as an S-Bahn service, while the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr, which is the transport authority that administers the northern section of the route has rejected the electrification of the line for "transport and economic reasons." Twelve new Alstom Coradia LINT sets (nine LINT 54H and threeLINT 41H) are operated on the two lines. The contract for operating the service was signed with the new operator VIAS for twelve years on 16 April 2015.^[11]

Thus, VIAS GmbH has operated on the following lines in NRW since the timetable change in December 2017:

Number	Railway used	Route	Contract period	Rolling stock
RB 34	Schwalm-Nette-Bahn	Mönchengladbach – Dalheim	10.12.2017 – 09.12.2029	Alstom Lint 41H
RB 39	Düssel-Erft-Bahn	Düsseldorf – Neuss – Grevenbroich – Bedburg	10.12.2017 – 09.12.2029	Alstom Lint 54H and 41H

Related Research Articles

The Taunus Railway in the High Taunus is a railway route between Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof and Brandoberndorf via Bad Homburg, Usingen and Grävenwiesbach. It was operated from 1993 to 1995 by the Frankfurter Verkehrsverbund as the T-Bahn and subsequently by the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund as line 15. It is listed in table 637 of the Deutsche Bahn timetable. The Friedrichsdorf–Brandoberndorf line, which has the infrastructure number of 9374, forms part of the old Friedrichsdorf–Wetzlar line, which was known as the Taunusbahn. The line is owned by the Verkehrsverband Hochtaunus. The infrastructure is managed by HLB Basis AG on behalf of the VHT.

The East Rhine Railway is a major, double-track, electrified railway line, running along the right bank of the Rhine from Cologne to Wiesbaden. The 179-kilometer (111.2 mi)-long line forms two Deutsche Bahn routes. Route 465 extends from Cologne to Koblenz, via Troisdorf, Bonn-Beuel, Unkel, and Neuwied. From Koblenz, Route 466 extends to Wiesbaden, via Rüdesheim am Rhein. Together with the Taunus railway, the line is used by Stadt-Express line SE-10 of the Rhine-Main Transport Association, which runs from Frankfurt to Koblenz and Neuwied.

The Rhein-Sieg-Express is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate running from Aachen via Düren, Cologne, Troisdorf, Siegburg and Betzdorf to Siegen. It is operated by DB Regio NRW.

The Rhein-Erft-Express is a Regional-Express service in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. It is numbered as line RE 8 and connects the cities of Mönchengladbach, Cologne, Bonn and Koblenz with each other and their surroundings, running hourly. From Monday to Friday it is complemented by a Regionalbahn stopping service, the Rhein-Erft-Bahn, running between Rommerskirchen and Koblenz Hauptbahnhof. On weekends it stops at some additional stations between Cologne Hbf and Koblenz Hbf.

Horrem station is a station in the Kerpen district of Horrem in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a railway junction of the Cologne–Aachen high-speed railway and the Erft Railway. The Trianglular station of Horrem is served by regional services and by S-Bahn trains of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn. Long-distance trains run through on the high-speed line without stopping. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 3 station.

Au (Sieg) station railway station in Windeck, Germany

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The Rhein-Emscher-Express is a Regional-Express service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), running from Düsseldorf via Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund to Hamm. It connects with the rest of the regional rail network of NRW in Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Oberhausen, Wanne-Eickel, Dortmund and Hamm. In addition, it connects in Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Oberhausen, Dortmund and Hamm with long-distance services.

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Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach station railway station in Groß-Umstadt, Germany

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The Düren–Neuss railway is a line in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The non-electrified main line originally ran from Düren to Neuss, but the Düren–Bedburg section has been closed and dismantled.

Grevenbroich station railway station in Grevenbroich, Germany

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The Königstein Railway is a 1902 opened, single-track and non-electrified secondary railway line that connects the town of Königstein im Taunus with the city of Frankfurt am Main on the southern edge of the Taunus in the German state of Hesse.

The Pfungstadt Railway (Pfungstadtbahn) is a single-track branch line that branches off the Main-Neckar Railway in Darmstadt-Eberstadt and runs to a station on the eastern edge of the inner town of Pfungstadt, in Hesse, Germany.

Bedburg (Erft) station is a station in the town of Bedburg, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

References

↑ "DSB acquires fifty per cent of German train operator" (Press release). DSB. 4 March 2010. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
↑ Düren District Court file number: HRB 6597, new entries. Joint register portal of the states, 17 July 2013, accessed 10 September 2015
↑ Düren District Court file number: HRB 6597, new entries. Joint register portal of the states, 5 March 2014, accessed 10 September 2015
↑ Düren District Court file number: HRB 6597, new entries. Joint register portal of the states, 9 July 2015, accessed 10 September 2015
↑ "VIAS". Bahn-Report (in German). 33 (197): 28. 1 September 2015. ISSN 0178-4528.
↑ "Zusätzliche Fahrzeuge auf der Odenwald-Bahn: ÖPNV-Mobilitätsportal" (in German). OREGmbH. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
↑ "Der 500. Flirt für Vias". Eurailpress (in German). 26 September 2008. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017.
↑ "FLIRT der Firma Stadler fährt ab 2010 am Rheinhein" (Press release) (in German). VIAS GmbH. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
↑ "Die alten Betreiber sind auch die neuen Betreiber" (PDF) (Press release) (in German). RMV. 17 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
↑ "VIAS übernimmt Erft-Schwalm-Netz – VRR und NVR vergeben RB 34 und RB 38-Nord (künftig RB 39) an neuen Betreiber" (Press release) (in German). Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
↑ "VIAS übernimmt Erft-Schwalm-Netz – Verkehrsvertrag über zwölf Jahre mit neuem Betreiber abgeschlossen" (in German). Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

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[1] "DSB acquires fifty per cent of German train operator" (Press release). DSB. 4 March 2010. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

[HRB_6597_1-2] Düren District Court file number: HRB 6597, new entries. Joint register portal of the states, 17 July 2013, accessed 10 September 2015

[HRB_6597_2-3] Düren District Court file number: HRB 6597, new entries. Joint register portal of the states, 5 March 2014, accessed 10 September 2015

[HRB_6597_3-4] Düren District Court file number: HRB 6597, new entries. Joint register portal of the states, 9 July 2015, accessed 10 September 2015

[BR_201509-5] "VIAS". Bahn-Report (in German). 33 (197): 28. 1 September 2015. ISSN 0178-4528.

[6] "Zusätzliche Fahrzeuge auf der Odenwald-Bahn: ÖPNV-Mobilitätsportal" (in German). OREGmbH. Archived from the original on 30 June 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

[7] "Der 500. Flirt für Vias". Eurailpress (in German). 26 September 2008. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017.

[VIAS_2008-09-25-8] "FLIRT der Firma Stadler fährt ab 2010 am Rheinhein" (Press release) (in German). VIAS GmbH. 25 September 2008. Archived from the original on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

[9] "Die alten Betreiber sind auch die neuen Betreiber" (PDF) (Press release) (in German). RMV. 17 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

[10] "VIAS übernimmt Erft-Schwalm-Netz – VRR und NVR vergeben RB 34 und RB 38-Nord (künftig RB 39) an neuen Betreiber" (Press release) (in German). Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr. 26 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2018.

[11] "VIAS übernimmt Erft-Schwalm-Netz – Verkehrsvertrag über zwölf Jahre mit neuem Betreiber abgeschlossen" (in German). Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2018.