National Express Germany is a railway operator in Germany. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British transport company

Mobico Group Mobico Group, formerly National Express Group, is a British multinational public transport company with headquarters in Birmingham, England. Domestically it currently operates bus and coach services under brands including National Express Coac ...

. National Express gained its first regional rail contracts in February 2013 and commenced operations on 13 December 2015. While the Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft awarded the company a separate contract to operate the Nuremberg S-Bahn system in January 2015, this decision was strongly opposed by the German national train operator

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

(DB) and National Express Germany opted to withdraw its bid in October 2016 due to the legal challenge's disruption. Nevertheless, the company was awarded parts two and three of the Rhein-Ruhr-Express in June 2015, which National Express Germany commenced between June 2019 and December 2020. During January 2022, National Express was awarded an emergency contract to replace Abellio GmbH in the operation of services in North Rhine-Westphalia; a long term contract covering the same services followed one year later.

History

In February 2013, National Express was awarded a pair of regional rail contracts in Germany by the

Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (), abbreviated VRR, is a public transport association (Verkehrsverbund) in the Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It covers large parts of the Ruhr, Ruhr area, the Lower Rhine region including Düsse ...

, Zweckverband Nahverkehr Rheinland and Zweckverband Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe authorities. The company has anticipated that around 18 million passengers shall use the associated services annually, which would cumulatively generate around €1.6 billion of revenue. Services under these contracts commenced on 13 December 2015. In January 2015, the Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft awarded National Express a separate contract to operate the Nuremberg S-Bahn system. It was set to commence in December 2018, taking over from the incumbent operator, the German state owned operator

DB Regio DB Regio AG () is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and therefore part of the DB Regio business segment, which also includes DB Regionn ...

, and would have been the first

(DB) S-Bahn network to be taken over by a private operator. However, DB unsuccessfully appealed the award by questioning the financial stability of National Express Germany. In October 2016, National Express withdrew its bid, stating that an inability to order new rolling stock during the protracted legal process instituted by DB would make its bid unviable. In response to gains by competing companies, DB reportedly launched efforts to reduce costs and sought to retain as much of its profitable regional services as possible. In June 2015, National Express was awarded parts two and three of the Rhein-Ruhr-Express, which commenced in stages between June 2019 and December 2020. During January 2022, following the financial difficulties of Abellio GmbH, National Express was awarded an emergency contract to operate services in North Rhine-Westphalia ( Rhein-Express (RE/RRX 1) Aachen-Hamm and Rhein-Express (RE11) Düsseldorf-Kassel) for a two year period starting in February 2022. In January 2023, the company was issued with a longer-term contract to operate the RE1 and RE11 Rhein-Ruhr-Express lines through to 2033. This contract, valued at €1 billion, made National Express the second largest rail transport company operating in the region, covering an anticipated 20 million train kilometres in 2023.

Services

Rolling stock

The initial rolling stock operated by National Express was a fleet of 35 Bombardier Talent 2 electric multiple-units (EMUs) ordered in June 2013. Configured either as three-car and five-car sets, these trains can reach speeds of up to 100mph and have been furnished with interiors designed for accessibility and comfort, providing both first and standard-class seating along with multi-purpose areas to accommodate prams,

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

s and

bike A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. B ...

s. These were sold back to the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association (VRR) and Westphalia-Lippe Local Transport (NWL) and leased back to National Express for the duration of the contract. The Rhein-Ruhr-Express services are operated by Siemens Desiro HC double-decker EMUs. Based and serviced at the RRX depot in Dortmund, these trains provide 800 seats (200 seats greater than available aboard the previous generation of rolling stock) along with platform-level doors,

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

throughout, power outlets at the seats, and free onboard

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

. For greater convenience and ease of operation, the Desire HC series is outfitted with advanced passenger information systems and an intelligent and predictive train diagnostics system along with extensive digital networking.

References

{{Mobico Group, state=collapsed Companies based in Cologne Mobico Group Railway companies of Germany Railway companies established in 2015 2015 establishments in Germany