South Thuringia Railway

South Thuringia Railway
Basic information
Company headquarters	Erfurt
Web presence	www.sued-thueringen-bahn.de
Reference year	2017
owner	Erfurter Bahn GmbH (50%) Hessische Landesbahn GmbH (50%)
Managing directors	Michael Hecht, Susanne Wenzel
Transport network	VMT
Employee	165 (Oct. 2019)
Lines
Gauge	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
railroad	7th
number of vehicles
Railcar	32 (VT 101 to 132) years of construction 2000–2002; 5 (VT 141 to 145) purchases from the ODEG (2016)
statistics
Passengers	2.8 million a year
Mileage	4 million km per year
Catchment area	South Thuringia, Erfurt region
Residents in the catchment area	0.8 million
Length of line network
Railway lines	370 km
Operating facilities
Depots	1 in Meiningen

STB shuttles in front of the depot at Meiningen station

The South Thüringen-Bahn GmbH (STB) is a public, non-federal railways -Betriebsgesellschaft, which was established on 10 December 1999th The shareholders are each 50 percent of the Erfurter Bahn GmbH (EB) and the Hessische Landesbahn GmbH (HLB). The company is based at the Erfurter Bahn in Erfurt . The operating location and operational management are based in Meiningen .

The Süd-Thüringen-Bahn is primarily active in local rail passenger transport ( SPNV ). It provides transport services on an approximately 370-kilometer network with seven railway lines on seven railway lines in the south of the Free State of Thuringia and between Meiningen and Erfurt. The blue band in the logo symbolizes the course of the Werra and thus the main area of ​​application.

Companies

The operating location of STB is Meiningen train station . The administration resides in the Prussian part of the station building. The maintenance and repairs of the railcars are carried out in the Meiningen depot opposite, and it also serves as a parking place for the shuttles. The management itself shares an office building at the company's headquarters in Erfurt with the management of the partner Erfurter Bahn. The two transport companies work closely together.

The Süd-Thüringen-Bahn employs 165 people and has its own customer and service centers at the stations in Meiningen and Ilmenau .

history

STB to Ilmenau and Meiningen coupled in Erfurt Hbf

The Süd-Thüringen-Bahn GmbH (STB) was founded in December 1999 and in February 2000 the transport contract was signed with the Free State of Thuringia. On behalf of Deutsche Bahn AG (DB), STB took over local passenger transport from January 1, 2001, initially with DB vehicles on the three railway lines Eisenach-Meiningen-Eisfeld, Wernshausen-Zella-Mehlis and Meiningen-Erfurt. May 2001 - as part of a Pro-Bahn event - regional shuttles were used. From June 10, 2001, the STB operated the "Diesel Network South Thuringia" route network itself with its own locomotives. Provided - but not implemented - was originally that the STB passenger timetable change in 2001 on the railway line Bad Salzungen-Vacha takes over as a result of discord between Thuringia and Wartburgkreis (bus parallel traffic) where the rail transport (regional rail) to 9 June 2001 ended.

In October 2002 on the Eisfeld – Sonneberg route and in December 2002 on the Sonneberg – Neuhaus route on Rennweg, local passenger transport began. The EB 46 line (from December 10, 2017 STB 46) from Erfurt to Ilmenau operated by the Erfurter Bahn until 2017 was largely operated by the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn on behalf of the Erfurter Bahn due to a lack of vehicles. The trains of the lines STB 44 and EB 46 from Erfurt to Plaue (Thuringia) were driven in a train formation, there the train was divided; one unit drove on to Ilmenau, the other to Meiningen. Since the Regio-Shuttle with modern central buffer couplings are equipped, this so-called was wings on push of a button. The infrastructure company responsible for the Eisfeld - Sonneberg and Sonneberg - Lauscha - Neuhaus am Rennweg sections is not DB Netz AG , but the private Thuringian Railway GmbH (ThE), which leased these lines for 17 years in August 2001 and has since extensively renovated them.

On June 11, 2011, the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn celebrated the 10th anniversary of its first start-up with a large station party. In December 2017, the route network with the Fröttstädt – Friedrichroda and Erfurt – Ilmenau – Rennsteig train station continued to grow. Furthermore, new customer centers were opened in 2017 in the Meiningen and Ilmenau train stations . In 2018, due to increased capacity requirements, the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn decided to build a new depot at Meiningen station with a workshop and office building, new track systems, petrol station and parking spaces. For this purpose, the site of the former freight yard was acquired by Deutsche Bahn AG. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 10, 2019. The commissioning of the new depot is planned for the beginning of 2021.

New call 2017-2028

STB and two used RegioShuttle of the ODEG in Meiningen station

New construction project for a workshop in Meiningen station

In the renewed invitation to tender for the routes in the "Southern Thuringia Diesel Network", the Southern Thuringia Railway was able to prevail over other applicants. It will therefore continue to operate its main network from December 2017 to 2028. The contract was signed on April 6, 2016 in Meiningen by Thuringia's Transport Minister Birgit Keller and the STB managing directors Michael Hecht and Susanne Wenzel. The STB network continued to grow with the regional trains STB 46 Erfurt – Ilmenau– Rennsteig station and STB 48 from Fröttstädt to Friedrichroda ( Fröttstädt – Georgenthal line ). To this end, two new express lines have been created: Erfurt – Zella-Mehlis – Meiningen (STx 50 / Mon – Fri six pairs of trains) and Erfurt – Ilmenau (STx 45 / Mon – Fri four pairs of trains). The train division of the lines STB 44 and EB 46 in Plaue was discontinued from December 2017 and the travel time between Meiningen and Erfurt was shortened by 10 to 15 minutes. The well-known vehicles of the “Regioshuttle” type will remain on the network for passengers from 2017 onwards. The 37 shuttles, five of them from ODEG , were modernized and received an extensive redesign in the conventional green and white until the contract change. The number of employees is to grow to 150 and the mileage is to be increased to four million kilometers per year.

Route network from 2017

Railway line	KBS	KBS route	Route length	Tact	Start of operations	Contract term
STB 41 (1)	575	Eisenach - Bad Salzungen - Wernshausen - Meiningen (→ see Eisenach – Eisfeld railway line )	60 km	1 hour	June 10, 2001 (on behalf of DB AG since January 1, 2001)	2001-2028
STB 41 (2)	569	Meiningen - Grimmenthal - Eisfeld - Sonneberg (Hbf) (→ see railway line Eisenach – Eisfeld and Eisfeld – Sonneberg )	81 km	1 hour Meiningen – Eisfeld / 2 hours Eisfeld – Sonneberg	June 10, 2001 Meiningen – Eisfeld (on behalf of DB AG since January 1, 2001) October 4, 2002 Eisfeld – Sonneberg	2001-2028
STB 41 (3)	564	Sonneberg - Neuhaus am Rennweg (→ see Coburg – Ernstthal am Rennsteig and Probstzella – Neuhaus am Rennweg railway )	29 km	1 hour	December 15, 2002	2002-2028
STB 43	573	Wernshausen - Zella-Mehlis - Suhl (→ see Zella-Mehlis – Wernshausen railway line )	36 km	1 hour (Mon-Fri) 2 hours (Sat / Sun) two pairs of trains Zella-Mehlis-Suhl	June 10, 2001 Wernshausen – Zella-Mehlis (on behalf of DB AG since January 1, 2001)	2001-2028
STB 44	570	Erfurt - Arnstadt - Suhl - Grimmenthal - Meiningen (→ see Neudietendorf – Ritschenhausen and Eisenach – Eisfeld railway )	86 km	2 hours	June 10, 2001	2001-2028
STB 44	570	Meiningen - Grimmenthal feeder to RE 7 Erfurt – Würzburg (→ see Eisenach – Eisfeld )	7 km	2 hours	June 10, 2001	2001-2028
STx 45	566	Erfurt - Arnstadt - Ilmenau (Express) (→ see Plaue – Rennsteig railway line )	50 km	four pairs of trains	December 10, 2017	2017-2028
STB 46	566	Erfurt - Arnstadt - Ilmenau - Rennsteig train station (→ see Plaue – Rennsteig railway line )	64 km	1 hour Erfurt – Ilmenau	December 15, 2002 Erfurt – Ilmenau	2017-2028
STB 48	606	Fröttstädt - Friedrichroda (→ see Fröttstädt – Georgenthal railway line )	11 km	1 hour	December 10, 2017	2017-2028
STx 50	570	Erfurt - Zella-Mehlis - Meiningen (Express) (→ see Neudietendorf – Ritschenhausen and Eisenach – Eisfeld railway )	86 km	six pairs of trains	December 10, 2017	2017-2028

• The line STB 46 Erfurt – Ilmenau was taken over in 2017 by the Erfurter Bahn (EB 46). The STB 46 shuttles run between Erfurt and Arnstadt in conjunction with the EB 23 Erfurt – Saalfeld shuttles and are separated in Arnstadt.
• A night train runs between Erfurt and Ilmenau from Friday to Sunday in each direction.

Vehicle overview and advertising

It has a total of 37 lightweight railcars of the type Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1 , 5 of which were purchased by the ODEG in 2016 with the road numbers VT 141 to 145. The railcars have 71 seats and 77 standing places in 2nd class standard. The trains have a toilet, heating and air conditioning. They are also equipped with a ticket machine and bicycle parking spaces. The destination station and the next stop are shown on two displays each in the two door areas on the ceiling.

As part of regional events, some STB locomotives were provided with tourist or commercial advertising:

Multiple unit number	Naming	Period of address	Venue	Remark picture
VT 101	City of Eisenach Wartburg city ​​of Eisenach - the Reformation city of Europe	June 10, 2001 to June 2016 since October 25, 2016	Eisenach railway station
VT 102	Toy city Sonneberg Theater city Meiningen , world of steam locomotives	August 30, 2001 to July 2016 since December 10, 2017	Sonneberg Hauptbahnhof Bahnhof Meiningen
VT 103	Theater town Meiningen Healing climatic health resort Friedrichroda / Marienglashöhle	from September 2, 2001 to 2016 since July 2018	Steam locomotive works at Meiningen Friedrichroda station
VT 104	Wartburg - UNESCO cultural heritage Steinach - city of lifestyle and sport	September 9, 2001 to January 5, 2016 June 1, 2019	Eisenach station Steinach station
VT 105	Schmalkalden University town & half-timbered town Looking for career changers	September 14, 2003 to January 1, 2019	Schmalkalden station Meiningen station
VT 106	Neuhaus am Rennweg - city on the mountains of the Thuringian Forest	Baptized on December 13, 2003	Neuhaus am Rennweg station
VT 107	Johann Sebastian Bach	Baptized on March 23, 2004	Eisenach railway station
VT 108	Oberhof - winter sports summer	December 15, 2004 to December 22, 2015	Oberhof station
VT 109	Martin Luther in Thuringia City of Schalkau in Thuringia	August 21, 2005 to March 4, 2016 March 11, 2017	Erfurt main station Schalkau station
VT 110	Ski arena Silbersattel Steinach / Thür	September 9, 2005 to April 5, 2016	Steinach railway station (Thuringia)
VT 111	Goetz Cave Meiningen	October 1, 2005 to April 29, 2016	Meiningen train station
VT 112	Partner shuttle Erfurt - Meiningen	Baptized on June 9, 2006	Erfurt main station
VT 113	Glassblowing city Lauscha	September 22, 2006 to June 1, 2016	Lauscha railway station (Thuringia)
VT 114	Bad Salzungen - green city of strong brine	Baptized on June 29, 2008	Bad Salzungen train station
VT 115	Half-timbered and carnival town Wasungen	Baptized on November 1st, 2008	Wasungen station
VT 116	Themar - Veßra Monastery	Baptized on June 27, 2009	Themar train station
VT 117	Meiningen Steam Locomotive Association	Baptized on September 6, 2009	Meiningen steam locomotive works
VT 118	Rauenstein , 250 years of the porcelain country Thuringia	Baptized on May 16, 2010	Rauenstein train station
VT 119	City of Plaue in Thuringia	Baptized on August 14, 2010	Plaue train station
VT 120	10 years of STB - We say thank you - 2001–2011	Baptized on June 11, 2011	Meiningen train station
VT 121	The Vibahn	February 12, 2012 to June 2016	Schmalkalden railway station
VT 122	Theater in motion - South Thuringian State Theater	Baptized on March 16, 2012	Meiningen train station
VT 123	Otto-Ludwig -stadt Eisfeld	Baptized on July 2, 2013	Eisfeld station
VT 124	Rennsteig shuttle	Baptized on June 7, 2014	Rennsteig train station
VT 125	GartenZeitReise, State Garden Show 2015 in Schmalkalden	Baptized on October 25, 2014	Schmalkalden railway station

Notes on the table

1. ↑ outside, written on the front of the railcar. The abbreviation VT stands for the type of drive, a so-called internal combustion engine .
2. ↑ Date from which the name change took effect. This is either the day of the celebratory ceremony or the official new registration date of a vehicle that has already been labeled and that has been subsequently converted or renumbered. The second date ( to ) indicates when the name was removed from the multiple unit and transferred to another vehicle.
3. ^ Place of the baptism ceremony

Web links

Commons : more images of the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Süd-Thüringen-Bahn

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Shuttle-News, EB and STB passenger journal, issue 4/2017
2. ^ Official Journal of the City of Meiningen, edition 5/2018.
3. ↑ Press release from the Thuringian Ministry of Infrastructure and Agriculture: Süd-Thüringen-Bahn awarded the contract for the southern Thuringia diesel network
4. ↑ Meininger Tageblatt, April 7th 2016 edition, pp. 1 and 3
5. ^ Website of the STB paragraph: Travel information - train equipment
6. ^ Large train station at Friedrichroda train station. Süd-Thüringen-Bahn, July 6, 2018, accessed on November 16, 2018 . 
7. ^ History. Süd-Thüringen-Bahn, June 11, 2011, accessed on November 16, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Shuttle baptism: By train on a garden time journey. In: Wochenspiegel Thuringia. November 1, 2014, accessed November 16, 2018 .