The agreement concerns the operation of Seehas services from Engen to Singen and Konstanz as well as Basle trinational S-Bahn lines S5 (Weil-am-Rhein - Lörrach - Steinen) and S6 (Basle - Lörrach - Zell).
The current half-hourly service pattern will be maintained on all three lines, although Baden-Württemberg plans to introduce a 15-minute-interval service between Basle and Lörrach following the completion of infrastructure improvements.
SBB will operate 83,000km train-km per year on the Seehas route. In order to provide capacity for the free carriage of bicycles, trains will be formed of two EMUs operating in multiple from December 2020.
“We continue to be very satisfied with SBB's performance on the two routes,” says Baden-Württemberg transport minister Mr Winfried Hermann. “Both the punctuality and reliability of SBB are significantly higher than on some other lines in Baden-Württemberg. Therefore, we have decided against the termination of the contracts and against a new tender.”
Baden-Württemberg plans to competitively tender operation of Seehas services alongside those on the Black Forest Line with the new contract starting when the current deal with SBB expires in December 2027. The other two routes will be reassigned with regional services on the Basle - Waldshut - Schaffhausen Upper Rhine Line, which will be electrified.
