Halle (dpa/sa) – After the financial difficulties of the Abellio railway company, their operation in central Germany seems to be secured for the time being. “The restructuring process at Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland GmbH is about to be completed,” the company announced on Monday. The restructuring plan is based on agreements with the central German authorities in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The aim is to maintain passenger operations and jobs.
According to the Nahverkehrsservice Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH (NASA) and the Thuringian State Office for Construction and Transport (TLBV), Abellio should fulfill its contract in the Saale-Thuringia-Südharz area by 2030. In addition, the plan envisages the continuation of the heavily loss-making diesel connections from Halle and Magdeburg to the Harz Mountains until the end of 2024. The end of 2023 had previously been mentioned. The agreements are scheduled to go into effect on July 1. Abellio will not participate in the following new tender for the diesel network.
Last fall, the Abellio railways in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia had to stop operating for a short time because the company was in financial difficulties. Negotiations between the authorities and Abellio have been going on for months, so that on the one hand the ailing company gets better conditions and on the other hand the authorities – i.e. the state – don’t have to dig deeper into their pockets than necessary.
Abellio operates about half of the railway lines in Saxony-Anhalt and belongs to the Dutch State Railways. According to the company, it has around 3,100 employees in Germany, and its 52 train lines operate primarily in North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Baden-Württemberg.
