Hamburg-Köln-Express

The Hamburg- Köln- Express GmbH is a private railway company, between Hamburg and Cologne since July 2012 - offers distance rail passenger transport - in competition with Deutsche Bahn AG. Its abbreviation HKX referred to the same type of train. The implementation of the operation takes place here by Veolia Transport, HKX The friendly staff.

History

The company was formed in October 2009 as a joint venture between the RDC Germany ( 75 percent share ), locomore rail GmbH & Co. KG ( 17.5 percent) and the British- Canadian railroad investor Michael Schabas (7.5 percent).

The axis Hamburg- Cologne had emerged according to the company from intensive market analysis. For the economic and tourism potential of the two regions have spoken. Against regions such as the Rhine -Main area or Berlin, however, their connection had spoken by high-speed lines, on which the German train was traveling faster. The company originally planned to offer 2010 long-distance trains between Cologne and Hamburg in August. In April 2010, the Company announced that the route only from April 2011 to operate three daily train pairs. The reason for the delays the company announced the uncertainty as to whether the ordered lines were assigned to. In addition, there had been four of the six ordered paths to route conflicts with the equally antretenden on this relation SNCF subsidiary Keolis. After Keolis has withdrawn their applications framework agreement in April 2010, a framework agreement with the DB network was completed in June 2010. It will run until December 2015.

In March 2011 HKX was known to have lodged a complaint against the new station pricing system with the Federal Network Agency, since in this case an increase in costs for HKX of 135 percent, or 500,000 euro would result in a year. End of May 2011, DB Station & Service - daughter instructed the Agency to take back the station price increase of 135 percent. The station prices must, as well as for the German railway, increase by only 18 percent.

Mid-2011 was scheduled for 1 September 2011, the operating recording. Due to delays in the processing of the carriage and the approval by the Federal Railway Authority came to shift the start date. The first HKX - train finally launched on Monday, July 23, 2012 at 6:35 clock in Hamburg-Altona station Cologne Hbf

The company has invested around 16 million euros according to own data until mid-2012. 2012 should be two to three million euros in sales can be achieved. According to the company initially was planned at three times, but since that the underlying vehicles were missing, the company would first write losses. The company employs 40 people.

According to the company 30 to 40 percent of the proceeds will be used to cover the infrastructure costs ( without traction power ). These include in particular routes and station fees.

In the first month were promoted according to the company about 25,000 people. Above all, people had been addressed that were not previously driven car.

The company still planned mid-2013 to become profitable in the same year. In order to work efficiently, the company need an occupancy rate of 70 percent according to own data.

In the first six months of operation in 2013, the company has transported 150,000 people according to own data in 700 trains and generated revenues of more than three million euros. 80 to 90 percent of the trains have reached their destination on time.

Offer

The company serves the approximately 450 -kilometer-long connection currently from Monday to Saturday with three and Sundays and public holidays with two pairs of trains. The travel time is depending on the train, between four hours and 20 minutes and four hours and 22 minutes. Regarding the travel times there is hardly any difference to the compounds of the Deutsche Bahn. The schedule of HKX is designed for a maximum speed of 160 km / hr.

Intermediate stops are Hamburg central station, Hamburg- Harburg, Osnabrück Hbf, Münster ( Westphalia ) Hbf, Gelsenkirchen Hbf Essen Hbf, Duisburg Hbf and Dusseldorf Hbf An additional planned maintenance in Sage horn near Bremen was for renovation work on the railway line pan - Eickelmann -Hamburg first not implemented and will be tested again at a later time.

From 29 April 2013, the rail service was extended to three trains per day in each direction, wherein the early connection on Sundays and public holidays omitted due to low demand. In the first year the company carried claims to 350,000 passengers.

As of March 2014 HKX has better adapted its offer according to own data to fluctuating demand, the weekly seating capacity should remain unchanged. The previous three daily services in each direction are offered only in the weekend traffic at free and Saturdays. On the off-peak days Tuesday and Wednesday only one pair of trains will operate and to the rest of the week there will be two pairs of trains.

Tariff

The company announced at the start of operation to offer cut prices of 20, 40 or 60 euros on the route Hamburg- Cologne in the first weeks of operation. Then there should be a variable, demand-driven pricing.

A HKX single ticket for the relation Cologne -Hamburg or vice versa cost until 30 September 2012 between 20 and 60 euros. On October 1, 2012, the maximum rate was increased to 68 euros. The normal price of the Deutsche Bahn is, however, no rail card discount at the Inter City 83 and the Intercity Express 92 €. The HKX - Tickets are bound to the booked train and include a seat reservation. Snacks and drinks are served on request in place, but are not included in the fare. At the weekend, the bicycles is possible with some trains surcharge.

When HKX there is initially only one car class. It is referred to as Basic.

Tickets are sold on the Internet and via a telephone hotline. Also on board trains tickets can be purchased. A sales cooperation rejected the German railway from after - HKX information.

Rolling stock

The car park of the HKX consists of four locomotives and a two-digit number of rented cars from different companies and therefore subject to certain variations in composition and scope. The cars are painted differently, but many carry HKX advertising. When the car is a side corridor compartment car. Since November 2013 mainly four wagon types are used:

Avmz: In the genus Avmz is procured in the 1960s by the German Federal Railways for the Rheingold or the Rheinpfeil cars, which originally belonged to the first class car. The cars offer depending on the equipment every 50 or 54 seats spread over nine six- or four compartments. Among other things, the first one ever built wagon type Avmz111 wrong when HKX, occurred up to the summer of 2013 its reprocessing.

Am / ABm: For wagons of the genera Am and ABm is 1st class or gemischtklassige cars that were built for the German Federal Railway or British and American troops. In part, this former couchette cars that have been converted to normal compartment car. The cars each have eleven compartments with 66 seats.

B ( I6): In November 2013 were rented from HKX Eurofima wagon from SNCB. This is 2nd class compartment coach with 66 seats.

By early November 2013 as scheduled drove another wagon types for the HKX. In addition to a double-deck coaches this compartment coaches were with ten compartments, which were built in the 1980s for the German Reichsbahn and Greater - control car. Many of these cars were only approved for 140 km / h, making it difficult to keep to the timetable.

In the initial period of five HKX Married Pair cars of Veolia subsidiary Nord -Ostsee -Bahn were used temporarily. This wide-body cars, including a control cars are there mainly for the second car class and come on weekdays on the also emanating from Hamburg Marschbahn used. You can unlike the compartment car above also carry wheelchairs and bicycles. Due to vehicle defect, there was also a short predisposed inserts of other vehicles, so in November and December 2012 from multiple units of the 460 series of trans regio.

Strung be the HKX - sets with locomotives of the type Siemens ES64U2. Sometimes the train runs here with two locomotives in sandwich fabric. When using a control car only one locomotive per train was needed.

Originally planned rolling stock

The three HKX train sets, two of them for the scheduled operation and as a reserve, should initially be formed from a respective electric locomotive, four intermediate cars and two end cars. The initially foreseen cars come from the multiple units of the Series 4010 from the 1960 and 2009 were of the Austrian Federal Railways ( ÖBB) sold to HKX. The 18 cars should be modernized to start operating in the rail car plant H. Cegielski in Poznan, Poland. Due to problems the collaboration, however, was terminated.

In March 2013, a contract for the modernization of initially a six-car set with the Euromaint Rail Germany GmbH has been completed.