The Vias GmbH (stylized VIAS) is a rail service company based in Frankfurt (Germany). The name of the company was taken from the Latin word via for ''way'' and the letter ''S'' for service. It operates rail services in the states of
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
,
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
and
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
.
Owners
The company was founded in 2005 by ''Stadtwerke Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main'' (VGF, the municipal transport company of Frankfurt) and
Rurtalbahn GmbH
Rurtalbahn (German for "Rur Valley Railway") is a railway company servicing the Rur valley from Linnich to Heimbach. Its major hub is Düren station, from where two train lines run to the two destinations.
Rurtalbahn GmbH is owned by R.A.T.H G ...
(RTB) of
Düren
Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur.
History
Roman era
The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a people ...
with both companies having equal shareholdings.
In March 2010,
Danish State Railways
DSB, an abbreviation of ''Danske Statsbaner'' (, ''Danish State Railways''), is the largest Danish train operating company, and the largest in Scandinavia. While DSB is responsible for passenger train operation on most of the Danish railways, goo ...
announced that it had taken over VGF's shareholding with the help of its subsidiary ''DSB Deutschland GmbH''.
History
On 22 October 2010, Düren-based ''Vias DN2011 GmbH'' was founded by its shareholders, ''DSB Deutschland GmbH'' and ''R.A.T.H. GmbH'' with the aim of providing rail services.
[Düren District Court file number: HRB 6597, new entries. Joint register portal of the states, 17 July 2013, accessed 10 September 2015] This company was first registered as ''Vias Odenwaldbahn GmbH'' on 19 February 2014
[Düren District Court file number: HRB 6597, new entries. Joint register portal of the states, 5 March 2014, accessed 10 September 2015] and renamed ''Vias Rail GmbH'' on 22 June 2015.
[Düren District Court file number: HRB 6597, new entries. Joint register portal of the states, 9 July 2015, accessed 10 September 2015] In the meantime R.A.T.H. GmbH had become its sole shareholder. On 13 December 2015, Vias Rail GmbH took over the public transport services on the Odenwald network from ''Vias GmbH''.
Rail services
Lines in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate
Vias has operated the approximately 210-kilometre-long
Odenwald Railway network on behalf of the
Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund
The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) is a transport association that covers the public transport network of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main area in Germany. Its head office is located in Hofheim im Taunus.
Organisation and area covered
The RMV ...
(RMV) and the state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
since 11 December 2005. It has also operated the
East Rhine Railway
The East Rhine Railway (German: ''Rechte Rheinstrecke'', literally 'right (of the) Rhine railway') is a major, double-track, electrified railway line, running along the right bank of the Rhine from Cologne to Wiesbaden. The -long line forms two De ...
since 12 December 2010 and the
Pfungstadt Railway
The Pfungstadt Railway (''Pfungstadtbahn'') is a single-track branch line that branches off the Main-Neckar Railway in Darmstadt-Eberstadt and runs to a station on the eastern edge of the inner town of Pfungstadt, in Hesse, Germany.
History
...
since 10 December 2011. It now operates on the following lines:
The designation of the lines corresponds to the
numbering of the RMV.
![Vias Flirt Kastel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Vias_Flirt_Kastel.jpg)
Since the commencement of operations in the
Odenwald
The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
Location
The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...
, 22 brand new
Bombardier Itino
Bombardier Itino is a diesel multiple unit manufactured by Bombardier Transportation, originally developed by Adtranz. It has two or three cars and is capable of . 40 units have been built and 17 more are on order. It is in service in Germany an ...
diesel railcars have been supplied by the ''Fahrzeugmanagement Region Frankfurt RheinMain GmbH (fahma)'' for the operations. The maintenance takes place in the workshop of ''Odenwaldbahn-Infrastruktur GmbH'' in
Michelstadt
Michelstadt () in the Odenwald is a town in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in southern Hesse, Germany between Darmstadt and Heidelberg. It has a population of 28,629 people.
Geography
Location
Michelstadt is the biggest town in the Odenwaldkre ...
, which is also the location of the operating centre. Four more sets of the same type were ordered by the RMV in August 2007 due to a lack of capacity and were delivered in the spring of 2010. These are also used on the
Pfungstadt Railway
The Pfungstadt Railway (''Pfungstadtbahn'') is a single-track branch line that branches off the Main-Neckar Railway in Darmstadt-Eberstadt and runs to a station on the eastern edge of the inner town of Pfungstadt, in Hesse, Germany.
History
...
, which was restored to operation from the 2011/2012 timetable change.
In addition, Vias also took over the ''RheingauLinie'' local service on the
East Rhine Railway
The East Rhine Railway (German: ''Rechte Rheinstrecke'', literally 'right (of the) Rhine railway') is a major, double-track, electrified railway line, running along the right bank of the Rhine from Cologne to Wiesbaden. The -long line forms two De ...
between
Neuwied
Neuwied () is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne. Th ...
,
Koblenz Hbf
Koblenz Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the city of Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the focal point of rail transport in the Rhine-Moselle-Lahn area. It is a through station in southern Koblenz built below Fort G ...
(and
Stadtmitte),
Wiesbaden Hbf
Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof is a railway station for the city of Wiesbaden, the state capital of the German state of Hesse. It is a terminal station at the southern edge of the city centre and is used by more than 40,000 travelers each day, so it is t ...
and Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (RMV line 10) at the 2010/2011 timetable change in December 2010. 5 three-car and 14 four-car
FLIRT
Flirting or coquetry is a social and sexual behavior involving spoken or written communication, as well as body language. It is either to suggest interest in a deeper relationship with the other person or, if done playfully, for amusement.
It ...
electric multiple units were ordered for its operation.
In December 2013, VIAS Rail GmbH won the tender for the operation of the Odenwald Railway and the Pfungstadt Railway. The new contract is valid from December 2015 for 12 years. The existing Itino sets will continue to be used, although adjustments to capacity have been made for some journeys. At least one train conductor is present in addition to the driver for all journeys.
Lines in North Rhine-Westphalia
On 26 March 2015, the
Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr
The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (), abbreviated VRR, is a public transport association (Verkehrsverbund) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It covers most of the Ruhr area, as well as neighbouring parts of the Lower Rhine region, includ ...
and ''Nahverkehr Rheinland'' (Rhineland local transport association) announced that Vias would operate the
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
Regionalbahn services RB 34 (''Schwalm-Nette-Bahn'' from
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border.
Geography Municipal subdivisions
Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...
to
Dalheim
Dalheim ( lb, Duelem) is a commune and town in south-eastern Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Remich, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher.
, the town of Dalheim, which lies in the centre of the commune, has a population of 1,23 ...
) and the northern part of the RB 38 service (the ''Erft-Bahn'' from
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
via
Grevenbroich
Grevenbroich () is a town in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Erft, approximately 15 km southwest of Neuss and 15 km southeast of Mönchengladbach. Cologne and Düsseldorf are in a 30 ...
to
Bedburg
Bedburg () is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia of Germany with 25,000 residents. Since 2014, Sascha Solbach is the mayor of Bedburg. The town is documented as existing as early as 893.
Climate
Notable people Sons a ...
) from the timetable change on 10 December 2017. The RB 38 would no longer use its whole former route from the timetable change; instead passengers would have to change in Bedburg. The northern part is operated by Vias and has been renamed the RB 39. The transport association for the Rhineland (''Nahverkehr Rheinland''—Rhineland local transport) plans to electrify the southern (Bedburg-Cologne) section and operate it as an S-Bahn service, while the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr, which is the transport authority that administers the northern section of the route has rejected the electrification of the line for "transport and economic reasons." Twelve new
Alstom Coradia LINT
The Alstom Coradia LINT is an articulated railcar manufactured by Alstom since 1999, offered in diesel and hydrogen fuel models.
The acronym ''LINT'' is short for the German ''"leichter innovativer Nahverkehrstriebwagen"'' (light innovative loca ...
sets (nine LINT 54H and three LINT 41H) are operated on the two lines. The contract for operating the service was signed with the new operator Vias for twelve years on 16 April 2015.
Thus, Vias GmbH has operated on the following lines in NRW since the timetable change in December 2017:
References
External links
* {{in lang, de}
Website of Vias GmbH
Transport in Hesse
Railway companies of Germany
Private railway companies of Germany