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VlexxGmbH (stylized in lowercase in its logo) is a rail transport company based inMainz,Rhineland-Palatinate,Germany; it is asubsidiary of theRegentalbahn, which in turn has been part of the Italian state railwayFerrovie dello Stato (FS) since 2011 via itsparent companyNetinera. Vlexx operates local rail passenger transport exclusively with diesel railcars in Rhineland-Palatinate,Saarland andHesse as well as a connection toFrance on theWinden-Wissembourg railway line into theAlsace to the railway station ofWissembourg.
The company was founded asDNSW in 2012 and derived from the so-called "diesel network southwest'", whose cornerstones are theRhineland-Palatinate cities ofMainz,Koblenz,Worms,Kaiserslautern andIdar-Oberstein as well asSaarbrücken in theSaarland andFrankfurt am Main inHesse. On weekends in the summer season there is also a train pair toWissembourg inAlsace.
From the outset, the "DNSW" name was intended only as a temporary solution. In a name competition in January 2014, the public was able to participate in the naming process. In order to underline a regional reference of the company, a suitable name was sought. The choice fell onvlexx, der Vier-Länder-Express (vlexx, the four-country express).[1]
At the end of February 2012, theRegentalbahn was selected by theZweckverband Schienenpersonennahverkehr Rheinland-Pfalz Süd (ZSPNV Süd) as the winner of theDieselnetz Südwest - Los 2 tender. Since the 2014/2015 regular timetable change on 14 December 2014, the company has been operating theMainz-Alzey-Kirchheimbolanden,Frankfurt-Mainz-Bad Kreuznach-Idar-Oberstein-Saarbrücken (Regional-Express services),Mainz-Bad Kreuznach-Kaiserslautern (a Regional-Express train pair during peak working hours) andMainz-Idar-Oberstein-Baumholder/Neubrücke (Nahe) lines for 22.5 years until June 2037. In December 2016, an additional Regional-Express line was introduced on theKaiserslautern-Bad Kreuznach-Bingen-Koblenz route, which means that 6.4 million train-kilometres per year now have to be covered.[2] Thediesel network southwest contains non-electrified main and secondary railways inRhineland-Palatinate and connects theRhenish Hesse,Nahe,Western Palatinate andSaarland regions in particular with theRhine-Main region and the centres ofMainz,Rüsselsheim am Main andFrankfurt am Main as well asFrankfurt Airport.
A total of 63LINT 54 andLINT 81diesel railcars are used for train services.[3][4] In the meantime,Regentalbahn foundedDNSW, a subsidiary to which the provision of services was transferred. The DNSW was later renamedvlexx as part of a competition.[1] The first new vlexx trains have been running since July 2014 on the future operating routes on a trial basis.[5]
On 27 November 2014 it became known that vlexx did not have enough train drivers to operate all train services at the timetable change 2014/2015. The former operator of the train services,DB Regio, was therefore commissioned by vlexx to operate individual train services.[6]
When the operation started on 15 December 2014, there were massive train cancellations and, in some cases, delays lasting several hours. As a result, an emergency timetable was published on 17 December with which only about 50% of all train services were served.[7] In addition, the managing directors were dismissed and replaced by Arnulf Schuchmann, the managing director ofODEG, which is also partly owned byNetinera.[8] On 6 January 2015, the emergency timetable was extended in stages so that from 12 January about 90% of all train services could be served again.[9] Since the beginning of March 2015, all contractually agreed connections have been served.[10] This includes in particular the reactivated line betweenHeimbach andBaumholder, which was only served by a replacement bus.
After Vlexx took over the last service from DB Regio (Bodenheim-Kaiserslautern services) on 1 July 2015 with a six-month delay, train cancellations occurred again due to a lack of personnel. This affected five connections that were taken over byDB Regio andTransregio during the summer holidays inRhineland-Palatinate or were completely cancelled.[11]
On January 9, 2017, theMinistry of Economy, Labour, Energy and Transport of theSaarland announced that vlexx had wonLos 2 of theE-Netz Saar-RB, comprising 2.3 million train kilometers. The RB linesSaarbrücken-Neubrücke (Nahe),Saarbrücken-Neunkirchen (Saar)-Homburg andHomburg-Illingen will then be operated by the company. These are to be served by 21[12]Talent 3 electric railcars. The currently still non-electrified line fromSaarbrücken toLebach-Jabach is also included in the tender lot. This line will initially be operated withDesiro Classic diesel railcars, electrification is planned for 2024, and from then onTalent 3 electric railcars will also be operated there. As an alternative, the use of a battery electric multiple-unit train based on the Talent 3 is planned.[13]
| Line | Route | Frequency | Material | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weinstraßen-Express | Koblenz Hauptbahnhof –Bad Kreuznach –Neustadt –Wissembourg | April until October | LINT 54 LINT 81 | |
| Elsass-Express | Mainz Hauptbahnhof –Alzey – Neustadt – Wissembourg | April until October | LINT 54 LINT 81 | _mit_RE_nach_Mainz_und_TER_nach_Strasbourg.jpg) |
The contracting authorities and transport associations of Vlexx for these services are:
The vlexx lines operate in the transport associationsRhein-Main (RMV),Rhein-Nahe (RNN),saarVV,Rhein-Neckar (VRN) andRhein-Mosel (VRM).
_25.2.2017.JPG)
