The shortage of personnel at the railway is getting worse and worse. Two regional train routes will therefore be discontinued by the end of the summer holidays. Until August 21 there will be no trains on the RB13 (Wustermark-Jungfernheide) and RB23 (Michendorf-Potsdam) lines. This was announced by the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB). The reason given was “increased sick leave”.
With the complete cessation of the two relatively short lines, operations on the remaining lines should be stabilized, according to the VBB. Some trains on the RE66 line (Berlin-Angermünde) will also be canceled as planned in the next two weeks. This means that the train only runs 97.5 percent of the offer ordered by the two countries. A week ago, a railway spokesman called 98 percent. This emergency brake agreed with the VBB on Thursday is apparently not enough. DB Regio already announced on Friday that numerous trains on the RB24 (Berlin-Eberswalde) would also be canceled at the weekend. In addition, there were a large number of spontaneous failures. The railways automatically report this to Twitter during the day, and the reason is usually also given.
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As on all days of the last few weeks, many connections were canceled on Sunday, most of them due to defective locomotives or wagons. If you look at a longer period of time, the reasons mentioned are distributed quite evenly: “Repairs on the route”, “Repairs on the train” and “Short-term sick leave” are the main causes. A railway spokesman announced at the beginning of the week: “Dozens of construction sites and increased sick leave are currently affecting the quality of regional transport.” Unfortunately, this “corona-related sick leave cannot be easily solved trivially,” says the railway.
Corona is felt by all transport companies. The BVG also announced on Thursday that bus traffic will be reduced after the end of the holiday. Two reasons are given, the “current pandemic development in combination with a tight labor market situation”.
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From the start of school on August 22, only 97 percent of the trips will be offered for buses, i.e. a similar value to that of the train. In a statement, the BVG emphasizes the good: “97 percent of the bus trips take place. And trams and subways are running as usual.” The passenger association Igeb sharply criticized the restrictions, saying that this was “another setback for the desired mobility turnaround”. The Igeb accused the BVG of not hiring enough drivers, “for a long time people have been driving at the limit”. The BVG admitted that “the tense market situation for employers has been noticeable for a few weeks”.
In short: the BVG can no longer find enough people. The situation in Berlin is aggravated by the fact that the buses have not accelerated for years. According to calculations by Igeb, 100 additional bus drivers are needed every day “because too many lines are stuck in traffic”.
As in every summer, there are numerous construction sites on the railway. The total closure in Königs Wusterhausen is the largest, but many other routes are also affected. And from Monday due to work in Grünau, the airport express will be canceled without replacement until the end of the vacation. It remains unclear why there are currently so many technical problems. The railway spokesman did not give a reason when asked. According to reports, there is also a lack of staff in the workshops, and there is also the extreme burden on material and staff due to the 9-euro ticket. The Tagesspiegel had already reported in mid-June that the number of defective doors and toilets on the trains had increased significantly.
Roland Pauli, the managing director of the private company Odeg, then reported that the toilet tanks on the trains were sometimes full after half a day. In the past, you only had to empty these every other day. The Verdi union therefore warned that the 9-euro ticket could only be extended if the companies had enough people. “With the current shortage of staff, it is difficult to absorb additional needs,” said Jeremy Arndt from Verdi.
