Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The engine driver task force for Baden-Württemberg's regional rail transport will be reinstated after a short time at the end of the year. It has been shown "that the pool is not being used to the extent that was expected in the planning," says the Ministry of Transport's response to a request from the FDP parliamentary group. The country responded to the low demand and reduced the size of the pool. "By the end of 2022, it is planned to dissolve the pool," says the statement. The "Stuttgarter Nachrichten" and the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" also reported on the answer.
The engine driver reserve should have helped to absorb staff shortages and reduce the number of sudden train cancellations. If a transport company calculates too little, it should be able to hire on-call staff for a fee. According to earlier information, a quarter of all train cancellations in Baden-Württemberg can be traced back to missing train drivers.
However, between August 2021 and December 2022 only 21 train drivers were recalled. The reason: Railway companies would have reacted to gaps in the personnel plan, especially at short notice, and then tried to cover the need through personnel service providers, the ministry said. In the past two years, however, these service providers have been less busy than at the time the pool was planned. Therefore, they were also able to provide staff differently than expected, as it was also said.
The state has invested around 2.4 million euros in the project. Before the pool was introduced, there had already been teething problems because initially no commercial offers had been submitted.
