Veolia Verkehr
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This article is about Veolia's German operations. For the international parent company, see Veolia Transport.
Veolia Verkehr GmbH is the largest private operator of passenger buses and trains in Germany. On April 3, 2006 Connex Verkehr GmbH was renamed Veolia Verkehr GmbH, but the sister companies kept their current names.
In Germany, Veolia, formerly Connex, gave each franchise regional names. Most companies operate rather small, regional train and bus services.
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[edit] Short-distance trains
Since April 4, 2005, Connex’s German operations have been structured in four regions.
[edit] North
Region North includes the federal states (Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and a short line in Denmark). In this region, the Niebüller Verkehrsbetriebe GmbH (NVB) and the Nord-Ostsee-Bahn GmbH (NOB) operate. The Niebüller Verkehrsbetriebe is a bus company operating ten bus lines with a length of about 527,382 km (about 330,000 miles). It has nineteen employees and transports about 680,000 people each year. Its main shareholder is the Nord-Ostsee-Bahn, which has also been operating a 237 km (150 mile) long railway service between Sylt and Hamburg since December 12, 2005. The corporate name translates as North and Baltic Sea Railway. It is the first private train operator making such a long journey. The Nord-Ostsee-Bahn also operates the routes Kiel - Husum, Husum - Sankt Peter-Ording, Kiel - Neumünster together with the Deutsche Bahn, Niebüll - Tonder and the bus line Brunsbüttel - Glückstadt. They have over 250 employees, run about 7.1 million km (4.4 million miles) per year, carry 7 million passengers each year and operate a railway network that is 431 km (270 miles) long.
It is planned to extend these trains from Hamburg on to Berlin and Cologne under the Operation of the "Ostseeland Verkehrs Gmbh" (OLA), which runs all Veolia long-distance trains in Germany. Unlike the trains between Sylt and Hamburg, the trains from Hamburg to Berlin and Cologne are not subsidised by any State of Germany
[edit] East
(Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia)
- SaxBus Eilenburger Busverkehr GmbH
- Connex Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH
- Lausitzbahn/Connex Sachsen GmbH
- Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn AG
- Niederschlesische Verkehrs-Gesellschaft mbH
- Ostseelandverkehr GmbH (OLA)
- Schöneicher-Rüdersdorfer Straßenbahn GmbH
- Taeter Tours GmbH (Dresden)
- Verkehrsgesellschaft Görlitz GmbH
[edit] West
(Bremen, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland)
- Alpina Bad Homburg GmbH
- Alpina Limburg GmbH & Co KG
- Alpina Rhein-Main GmbH & Co KG
- Düren trans GmbH
- HABUS-GmbH Verkehrsbetriebe (Hagen)
- Nassauische Verkehrs-Gesellschaft mbH
- NordWestBahn GmbH (NWB)
- PalatinaBus GmbH (Edenkoben)
- RegioBus Gütersloh GmbH
- Rheinisch-Bergische Eisenbahn GmbH (RBE) (Mettmann)
- Schaumburger Verkehrs-Gesellschaft mbH
- TAETER GmbH & Co KG (Aachen)
- TWE-Busverkehrs-GmbH
[edit] South
(Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria)
- Bayerische Oberlandbahn GmbH (BOB)
- J.P. Griensteidl GmbH (Gröbenzell)
- Heidenheimer Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH
- Omnibus-Verkehr Ruoff GmbH (Waiblingen)
- Stadtbus Schwäbisch Hall GmbH
- WEG-Kraftverkehrs-GmbH
- Württembergische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft mbH (WEG).
[edit] Long-distance trains
Veolia runs 3 long distance trains:
[edit] InterConnex 1
Since December 2001 the Ostseeland Verkehr GmbH has been operating a long distance train with German diesel multiple units of the Talent class between Rostock - Berlin - Leipzig - Gera. These trains were constructed for regional use so that longer journeys were quite unpleasant. Only later were they fitted with more comfortable long distance seats. From the beginning on they had a BoardBistro. This train was conceptualised as a compensation for the cancelled Deutsche Bahn trains between Rostock and Leipzig.
The trains offered three classes: Traveller, Economy and Business. Each of them with a different kind of service.
From May 2006 the train service was shortened to Leipzig - Berlin, running twice each way Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, the train runs from Leipzig to Rostock via Berlin and back on Sunday. The train units have changed into a locomotive of the Nord-Ostsee-Bahn and coaches of the former InterConnex 3. Between Gera and Leipzig there is a shuttle train with a diesel multiple unit of the Desiro class. Ticketing has been simplified and the three classes have been abandoned.
From December 2006 the train service runs now between Leipzig and Berlin Hauptbahnhof up to three times a day. The train stops in Berlin Potsdamer Platz and with some trains also in Bitterfeld. On Saturdays the train drives to Warnemünde via Neustrelitz, Waren and Rostock. On Sundays it drives back from Warnemünde to Berlin and further to Leipzig. The shuttle train between Gera and Leipzig will not be continued. The train material has changed to new coaches of the Nord-Ostsee-Bahn with air conditioning.
[edit] Ostseeland Express
In December 2004, a second line from Zittau via Berlin to Stralsund, in the summer season even to Rügen began operating under the Name InterConnex 2. This line was extended to Liberec in the Czech Republic during the summer of that year. Shuttle buses from Dresden and Usedom were also operating. With the timetable modification in December 2004, the route was changed and now runs between Stralsund, Berlin and Dresden and in December 2005 it was renamed Ostseeland Express (OLX).
[edit] Harz-Berlin-Express
Since December 2005 , the Veolia subcontractor HarzElbeExpress (HEX) has been operating the Harz-Berlin-Express from Berlin via Magdeburg, Halberstadt to Thale in the Harz on weekends. This route was previously operated by the Deutsche Bahn.
[edit] InterConnex 3
A third line between Rostock and Cologne ran between June 6 and October 27, 2003.
[edit] Plans for the Future
Two new lines are planned between Hamburg and Cologne, as well as Hamburg and Berlin as an extension of the regional trains between Sylt and Hamburg from December 2006 on. All long-distance trains will run under the name InterConnex.
[edit] Cargo trains
Cargo trains are operated under the name Connex Cargo Logistics GmbH.
