Die Länderbahn GmbH (DLB), formerly Vogtlandbahn GmbH, is a German rail transport company based in Viechtach, operating transport services originally only in the Vogtland, but now also on a regional basis. Die Länderbahn (literally "the states railway") is a subsidiary of Regentalbahn AG, which is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato subsidiary Netinera (formerly Arriva Deutschland). The term vogtlandbahn remains in use as a trademark of Die Länderbahn in Vogtland.
Die Länderbahn is a member of the Tarifverband der Bundeseigenen und Nichtbundeseigenen Eisenbahnen in Deutschland (Tariff association of federally-owned and non-federally-owned railways in Germany, TBNE).
Origins
After German Reunification in 1990, there was a sharp drop in passenger numbers on the rail network in all the new Bundesländer. Saxony, and thus Vogtland, was no exception. The railways had old rolling stock and could not compete with rapidly improving roads. The Saxon government invested in an attempt to improve the attractiveness of the Zwickau–Falkenstein–Klingenthal line and the Herlasgrün–Falkenstein–Adorf (timetable route 539). The track was relaid to an 80 km/h standard, disabled access was facilitated at all stations and new stations opened. Maintenance and tracks were rationalised. Some platforms were removed, some stations such as Schöneck were restyled as halts.
One component of the project model was the reallocation of the public transport services within the framework of a competitive environment. In addition to new vehicles, timetables and optimised transfer connections between the transport modes were required. In response to an invitation to tender published in September 1994, the contract was won by Regental-Bahnbetriebs-GmbH from Viechtach, Bavaria. After the completion of the redevelopment measures, operations started on 23 November 1997. On 1 January 1998, Vogtlandbahn was acquired by Regental-Bahnbetriebs-GmbH and operated as an independent company under the umbrella of the Länderbahn group. In contrast to the trains formerly operated by Deutsche Bahn, services have been well used since Vogtlandbahn took over the company. Therefore, it began construction of its own locomotive depot in Neumark in the spring of 1998, which was opened after two years of construction on 4 July 2000. The locomotive depot in Reichenbach that had been used previously was no longer needed.
"Zwickau Model"
A further success is the extension of the network into Zwickau town centre. Following the example set by the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn, the lines extend from Zwickau Hauptbahnhof to the central markets. As most of the Vogtland network has not been electrified, the train-trams do not use current from the tramwires (as in Karlsruhe) but are driven by diesel engines. Between the Hauptbahnhof and Stadthall there was a link that could be reactivated. From there to Zentrum the train and the tram use the same tracks. To do this, dual-gauge track has been laid; there are three rails, the tram uses metre gauge , and the Vogtlandbahn uses standard gauge, . An extra rail was laid next to the tram line so that they share one rail and each use one of the others as appropriate. Since the tramway was only built at this time, a third track and a larger distance between the tracks could be planned from the start, making the retrofitting possible. The diesel sets run on the common route under BOStrab procedures, so they were equipped with indicators and brake lights. Because of their breadth, however, they do not operate with road traffic; Äußere Schneeberger Straße is largely closed to car traffic. However, the area used by the tracks can be used by rescue vehicles and rail replacement buses.
Expansion outside of Saxony
In the years that followed Vogtlandbahn had many opportunities to bid for further routes to expand its network. From their core routes in the Vogtland they moved over into Bavaria and Thuringia, with lines to Hof, Schleiz and Gera. When the Czech Republic became a candidate for European Union membership a new market opened. In 2000, after a 55-year gap, the Zwickau–Klingenthal line was reconnected to Kraslice (Graslitz). In 2003 it connected to Sokolov (Falkenau) on the Czech Chomutov–Cheb railway.