bus intercity connection in Germany

On Mar 19, 11:15*pm, Tom P wrote:
Josef Kleber wrote:
Wolfgang Schwanke schrieb:
wrote in
:

There are very few routes between cities served by bus as
the state operated trains don't want any competition.
Trains aren't state operated now, and their not wanting any competition
could hardly make it go away.

But the bus companies need licences, which they don't get, if they want
do parallel service to existing train lines. It's a law from the 1930s
to protect state investment in train infrastructure.

Josef

Interesting - that may explain why although there are a huge number of
charter bus companies, there are hardly any scheduled bus services
between major cities.

Berlin seems to be an exception - could it be that the existing licences
date from pre-unification times??

Also, what happens to the law if and when the Bahn finally gets privatized?

T.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The only bus service between cities is between Berlin and Hamburg and
Berlin and Dresden. The last pair doesn't make sense if it was only a
reunification issue.

George

wrote:
On Mar 19, 11:15 pm, Tom P wrote:
Josef Kleber wrote:
Wolfgang Schwanke schrieb:
wrote in
:
There are very few routes between cities served by bus as
the state operated trains don't want any competition.
Trains aren't state operated now, and their not wanting any competition
could hardly make it go away.
But the bus companies need licences, which they don't get, if they want
do parallel service to existing train lines. It's a law from the 1930s
to protect state investment in train infrastructure.
Josef
Interesting - that may explain why although there are a huge number of
charter bus companies, there are hardly any scheduled bus services
between major cities.

Berlin seems to be an exception - could it be that the existing licences
date from pre-unification times??

Also, what happens to the law if and when the Bahn finally gets privatized?

T.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The only bus service between cities is between Berlin and Hamburg and
Berlin and Dresden. The last pair doesn't make sense if it was only a
reunification issue.

George

Maybe the East Germans repealed the law in GDR times.

T.

Tom P schrieb:
Josef Kleber wrote:
But the bus companies need licences, which they don't get, if they want
do parallel service to existing train lines. It's a law from the 1930s
to protect state investment in train infrastructure.

Josef

Interesting - that may explain why although there are a huge number of
charter bus companies, there are hardly any scheduled bus services
between major cities.

Yes, they mostly do a mix of charter, school buses and licenced lines in
"Verkehrverbünden"

Berlin seems to be an exception - could it be that the existing licences
date from pre-unification times??

Maybe, but i think the Berlin-Hamburg service is operated on a new
license by a daughter of DB (BerlinBus??). This was widely criticized as
exactly a company that profits most from the law gets an exception
license. On the other hand Berlin-Hamburg is one of the most successful
and accepted lines.

Also, what happens to the law if and when the Bahn finally gets privatized?

It's already privatized, it's just state owned! ;-)
Really, 20 years ago it was more an administration than a company. Today
it's one of the big three in logistics worldwide.
I guess the law will stay in place. Nowadays, rail companies are
profitable. Here in germany, they have to pay for every kilometer of
track they use, even for evey station they call. With one of the highest
fees in the world, which are enough to maintain the existing network.
If you allow unfair competition with buses (do buses have to pay MAUT?)
the network will break in parts, as buses do pay just minimal fees for
infrastructure they use, at best. In the end you have less and less
people with good public transport and just a few "shareholders" with
profitable bus companies. Thanks to god, public interest in germany is
still defined somewhat different.

Josef

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