KEITH FENDER outlines plans for a regular interval timetable for Germany in 2030
In 1990 Germany was reunited as a single country after 45 years of Cold War division. Assuming current planning comes to fruition, 40 years after reunification the country should have a regular interval higher frequency national rail timetable (in German, Taktfahrplan). In 2018 the German Government announced it wanted to see the country adopt a regular interval timetable, similar to that used in Switzerland since 1982 – and enhanced there several times since.
Proposals for a German national version of the Swiss approach were first made in 2008 as by then multiple German states had introduced their own ‘Takt’ timetables, normally centred on major cities to provide regular interval services. The proposal for a national ‘Takt’ reflected the fact the existing sometimes state-wide ‘Takt’ timetables do not necessarily connect across state borders and do not include long-distance trains, almost all of which are operated by national operator Deutsche Bahn via its commercial DB Fernverkehr (long-distance) business.
After years of debate, a study conducted for the Federal transport ministry in 2015 concluded a national ‘Takt’ time…
