Cologne/Bochum (dpa/lnw) - Increased corona incidences, of all things, during the holiday season are causing problems for transport companies in North Rhine-Westphalia - some bus and train failures are the result. “After weeks of relaxation, the increase in staff absences is mainly due to an increased sickness rate – also due to a renewed increase in corona cases,” said the Cologne transport company (KVB) last week, which is expected to have several bus routes from Monday have to temporarily adjust. In addition to the actual diseases, the quarantine cases play a major role.
In June, the corona incidence in North Rhine-Westphalia rose from less than 250 to almost 800, on Friday the value was 698.5. In addition, the summer holidays in NRW have been going on for two weeks, and many employees are free.
The Bochum-Gelsenkirchen trams (Bogestra) also announced last week that all personnel capacities are now exhausted due to the beginning of the vacation period and the further increase in sickness rates. Tram line journeys there must be stopped by mid-July. According to Bogestra, in the past few months some drivers have given up their vacation to stand in for colleagues suffering from Corona. Other employees who work in the head office or in the workshop, for example, but who have the appropriate driver's license, also helped out.
According to Deutsche Bahn, it is “currently affected by increased sick leave, which can lead to regional staff shortages in the short term.” The S-Bahn line 6 between Cologne-Mülheim and Cologne-Wörringen will be canceled until August 5th.
At Vias, no entire line is currently threatened with discontinuation. "Despite all the measures, unfortunately, individual train services are canceled due to short-term staff shortages," it said. The usual basic cycle cannot always be maintained, because of the vacation time not every case of illness can be replaced by an on-call service.
At DSW21 in Dortmund, there are also occasional cancellations in the bus area. The Rheinbahn in Düsseldorf said that despite some corona-related failures, they are currently able to drive as usual. There are currently no major problems with the Northwest Railway, as a spokesman said.
"We also have to confirm that we have a greatly increased rate of illness," said a spokeswoman for National Express. There are individual cancellations. Improvement is expected from the end of July, it said. “However, further effects of Covid-19 cannot be foreseen.”
