Finally Clarity at Rhein-Sieg-Express

The Rhein-Sieg-Express (Aachen-Cologne-Siegen) railway line may be operated by DB Heidekrautbahn GmbH as of December 2010 after all. The Europe-wide bidding procedure for awarding the operation which the Nahverkehr Rheinland cooperative had jointly operated with the Schienenpersonennahverkehr-Nord [commuter railway systems North] cooperative and Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe [commuter system Westphalia-Lippe] has thus been concluded. The cooperatives were provided legal advice in connection with the bidding procedure by Dr. Ute Jasper and Dr. Anke Fortmann of law firm Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek.

A defeated bidder had wanted to rescind the agreement with a review procedure before the Award Council Cologne. However, after the oral proceedings on July 4, the petitioner saw no more chance to be awarded the route and withdrew the petition. Thus, the path has been cleared for the scheduled start of operation by DB Heidekrautbahn.

The bidding volume is considerable. After all, about two million train kilometers per year are concerned. The now legally effective transport agreement has a term of 15 years. During this period, the responsibility for revenues lies solely with the new operator.