TMH International will maintain Go-Ahead’s fleet of 78 Mireo and Desiro HC EMUs that will operate its portion of the Augsburg Network from December 2021 and Munich - Memmingen - Lindau services from December 2022. TMH International will maintain the vehicles at a new maintenance depot, which Go-Ahead is building in Langweid, north of Augsburg.
TMH International will also provide a 24/7 technical support hotline for Go-Ahead staff, and be responsible for the procurement of spare parts, depot management and vehicle maintenance records.
The new depot will enter operation from mid-2022, and is expected to service around three to four trains per day. Planning approval for the depot has been granted, and Go-Ahead has transferred management of the depot’s site to TMH International.
From the start of Go-Ahead’s operation until the new facility is opened, TMH International will temporarily rent a depot in the Augsburg Railway Park to carry out maintenance.
“We plan to hire around 40 managers and technicians,” says Mr Terence Watson, senior vice-president Europe at TMHI. “Germany and particularly Bavaria are proud of their long railway tradition and expertise, and we are confident that we will find the right competences here.”
Go-Ahead Bavaria, founded in 2019 as a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group, Britain, was commissioned by Bavarian Railways Company (BEG) and Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport in August 2018, to operate regional train services from December 2021 until the end of 2034 in southern Bavaria and in neighbouring Baden-Württemberg.
Go-Ahead Bavaria will initially run services from Munich, via Memmingen, to Lindau from the end of 2021, and will add regional routes around Augsburg to its network from December 2022, including routes to Munich, Ulm, Donauwörth and on to Aalen and Würzburg.
Terence Watson reveals TMH International’s expansion strategy in the December issue of IRJ, p.38.
