Investing in the future of the company, city and region

The Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt am Main Transport Company) is not only one of the largest employers in the city but it also invests millions of Euros into new construction, modernisation and maintenance of its mobile and stationary infrastructure.

On workday mornings when the commuter flow begins, Frankfurt becomes a city with over a million inhabitants. More than 325,000 people come from the Rhein/Main region – and even further afield – to their jobs in the city. Without high capacity public transport, the inner-city roads would be packed mostly with cars; the logical consequence of this being gridlock. With its underground trains, trams and – at least partially – buses, the Frankfurt am Main transport company (VGF) guarantees that Frankfurt’s 673,000 inhabitants and those living and working in the city during the day, keep moving – without using their cars.

The VGF is Frankfurt’s transport company and the city’s transport service provider. More than 320 rail vehicles provide mobility on nine underground lines and seven tram lines. After the city decided to tender Frankfurt bus services nationwide in 2001, In-der-City-Bus (ICB), the competitive subsidiary of VGF, currently holds approximately 50% of the bus services assigned in competition throughout Europe. Buses and trains have around a quarter share in Frankfurt’s traffic volume. That means 24% of routes in the city are used by buses and trains. In comparison, routes on foot account for 35%, by car 27% and by bicycle 14%.

The VGF employs approximately 2,000 people – of whom 684 are train drivers. The ICB employs a further 350 bus drivers. The transport group VGF is one of the largest employers in the city and the Rhein/Main region. Jobs are and stay in Frankfurt: driving or maintaining an underground train are not jobs that can be outsourced more cheaply abroad. However, the unique competition for bus lines throughout Germany, to which the city has exposed its company, could not continue in recent years without affecting the number of employees. This has decreased from 2,510 in 2002 to 2,014 at the end of 2010. The reason behind this is the reorganisation and restructuring that every business and specialist division throughout the company has made. In forming the ICB, the VGF bus drivers were gradually retrained as train drivers and the ICB had to rehire. Since autumn 2010, the trend has been reversed: with the opening of the new underground lines U8 and U9, the VGF hired driving staff again for the first time, resulting in the creation of 96 jobs. As the VGF rail network will continue to grow in 2011 – in December the new tram line 18 will be opened in the development area Frankfurter Bogen – further new employment is planned.

Direct allocation of rail by 2031

The reorganisation and restructuring also had an impact on VGF’s economic success. The company’s cost recovery in 1997 totalled 59.8%, standing at 91.4% in 2008. In comparison, the average of firms merged in the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) was 66.7% in 1997 and 76.6% in 2008. As a direct success of its company policy, the VGF will receive licences for the underground and tram lines for a 20-year term starting in February 2011. On 26 February 2009, the city of Frankfurt opted for a direct allocation of rail to its own company, unlike with buses. This implies planning security not only for VGF, but also its staff. It also means security for the multi-million investment that the VGF is already making in the future of stationary and mobile infrastructure. Because VGF not only creates secure jobs in Frankfurt, it also generates sales and employment in the city and surrounding areas – from florists to car traders, copy shops to office furniture manufacturers.

Figures, dates, facts

Figures highlight the size and importance of the VGF in and for Frankfurt: the seven VGF underground lines at that time (U8 and U9 were only opened in December 2010) carried around 114 million passengers in 2009; 49.1 million passengers travelled on the tram lines. With the 52.5 million bus passengers carried by the ICB as well as two private companies, the number of passengers on Frankfurt’s underground trains, trams and buses amounted to 195.6 million. The S-Bahn (commuter train) operated by DB AG is not included in this figure.

The VGF currently operates 65.38km of underground lines, of which around 23km are in tunnels. Eighty-six stations, including 27 underground, provide a dense network in which a total of nine lines are travelled on. The tram network is currently 63.55km-long, with new construction of 3,500 metres due to be added in 2011. Then the number of lines will increase from seven to eight and the number of stops from 127 to 136. As the VGF itself no longer holds bus licences, corresponding details on the Frankfurt bus service are unfortunately not possible at this point. Only 224 omnibus stops remain under VGF’s responsibility.

New underground and tram lines

The new tram line 18 is part of an extensive investment programme which the VGF is using to expand its infrastructure and thus its network and range of services. Nine new stops will open up the development area Frankfurter Bogen in the north of the city along approximately 3.5km of new tram lines. Construction work commenced in June 2009 and with the new timetable changeover in December 2011, the line is to cross the city centre via Konstablerwache ending in the south at the local railway station on the southern bank of the river Main. Existing tracks will be used. The VGF is investing €55 million here.

Two city railway projects are currently at the planning stage: under the heading ‘European quarter’ the new district is to be developed on the area of a former freight station, northwest of the main railway station. The 2.6km-long route with the stations ‘Güterplatz’, ‘Emser Brücke’, ‘Europagarten’ and ‘Wohnpark’ is an extension of the current line U5 and runs completely underground. From 2012 to 2017, the VGF wants to invest €205.86 million. An expansion is planned at the northern end of U5: the route is to be extended along around 1.7km by three new stations via the current end station ‘Preungesheim’ to the S-Bahn station ‘Frankfurter Berg’. Construction is due to commence in November 2011, commissioning of the €25.2 million track is scheduled for December 2012.

At the end of 2010, VGF’s city rail network was increased by 3.5 above-ground kilometres and two lines: after two and a half years’ construction time the VGF were able to commission lines U8 and U9 via Riedberg – the largest urban development project in Germany. Since then the U8 connects Riedberg within 20 minutes via Heddernheim and Eschersheimer Landstraße – the so-called A-route has been running for 42 years and is the oldest section of Frankfurt’s underground system – with Hauptwache in the city centre and Südbahnhof south railway station in Sachsenhausen. Line U9 runs from Nieder-Eschbach via Riedberg to Ginnheim, where there is a connecting tram line 16 to the main railway station. Two new stations emerged, besides seven new bridge constructions and three new crossings to connect the line to the existing network. The costs amounted to €71 million.

VGF is not only investing in the expansion of its stationary infrastructure, but also in its modernisation and maintenance. Since 1998 and ongoing until 2017, 55 above and underground stations have been or are being scheduled for barrier-free expansion – at a cost of approximately €66 million. This also includes the lift upgrade programme, under which lifts were subsequently installed in four underground stations between 2008 and 2010. A further four are planned: ‘Westend’, ‘Miquel- / Adickesallee’, ‘Eschenheimer Tor’ and ‘Schweizer Platz’. Estimated costs here reach €7.7 million. At a cost of €52 million, the VGF will also modernise a total of 130 tram stops by 2017.

Renewal of tram fleet

VGF also continuously renewed rolling stock in recent years in order to be able to offer its passengers the most modern fleet possible. Between October 2003 and March 2007, VGF purchased 65 ‘S’ carriages from the Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Transportation (BT) at a cost of €113.8 million without any funding from the state of Hessen. The VGF currently operates a tram fleet of 103 vehicles, which is completely low-floor. The ‘S’ carriages are also airconditioned, partly fitted with video cameras, otherwise pre-fitted for subsequent retrofitting.

New and modernised underground trains

Since May 2008 – and until 2015 – a total of 146 ‘U5’ type units of the new U-Bahn carriage will be purchased from the same manufacturer (BT). Costs amount to approximately €300 million, and from November 2011, the vehicles of subtype ‘U5-50’ are to be accessible for the first time on the entire length of 50 metres.

To be able to couple units of the new ‘U5’ with older generation vehicles, the ‘U4’ carriages from Siemens, the VGF started in August 2010 to completely restore these vehicles commissioned in 1994 and 1995 and adapt the interior of the ‘U5’. By 2013 the central workshop will restore 37 trains of this type and thus also be subjected to the major overhaul due. Costs per vehicle amount to €632,000 with a total expenditure of €23.38 million.

New buses

For four years the VGF has invested in such vehicles despite competition for bus lines, because the bus infrastructure, thus fleet and workshop, remain with the company and only the driver’s service is offered by the subsidiary ICB. In 2007, the VGF bought buses in Poland for the first time. The Poznań manufacturer, Solaris, was awarded the order for 37 standard vehicles. The VGF paid €8.5 million for 37 ‘Urbino 12’. Further investment followed: in 2009, eight Solaris ‘Urbino 12’ and 16 ‘Urbino 18’ (articulated buses) were purchased for €7 million, while last December, 17 Solaris ‘Urbino 12’ and – for the first time in Frankfurt – 12 MAN ‘Lions City’ articulated buses for €7 million. The VGF fleet is now completely low-floor and all VGF vehicles have air-conditioning and clean engines fulfilling the EEV standard.

Cameras are fitted as standard for all new purchases of rail vehicles and buses. All 146 new type ‘U5’ underground carriages are fitted in this way. Likewise, so are any buses purchased since 2007 and the type ‘U4’ underground carriages modernised since 2010. However, upgrading the type ‘R’ trams or the approximately 15-years old ‘U4’ underground carriages with air-conditioning was not possible for technical reasons, because the carriage bodies would not have carried the tonnes of equipment.

‘Safety & Service’

Investments made by VGF also improve safety and service in public transport. The transport company’s project of the same name – ‘Safety & Service’ (‘SuS’) comprises three construction stages, two of which have been completed and are in operation: in May 2006 surveillance cameras as well as emergency and information pillars (NIS) were installed in seven underground U-Bahn stations – both on the platforms and the distribution levels. The heart of the system is the ‘SuS’ central that was placed in operation for the FIFA World Cup at that time. VGF invested €2.3 million to improve both the passengers’ objective and subjective feeling of safety.

In December 2009, the VGF completed the second construction stage with the remaining 20 underground U-Bahn stations. This means 27 of today’s 86 U-Bahn stations – and in fact all underground stations – are connected to the modern and 24-hour-a-day manned ‘SuS’ central with cameras and NIS. In the third construction stage, 18 above-ground U-Bahn stations and tram stops are planned for around €1.2 million. This selection was made with the assistance of the police based on criteria such as the number of passengers, transfer connections, criminal offences and vandalism. When construction of this third stage has commenced, the VGF will have made a total investment of approximately €6.1 million into the project ‘Safety & Service’.

With the purchase of new vehicles, modernisation of existing fleet, new construction of lines or restoration of old systems (with investments totalling more than €206.25 million in 2011 alone), the VGF is maintaining high capacity public transport in Frankfurt, expanding it, making a name for itself as a future-oriented company, as well as indispensable as a location factor and characteristic part of urban development in Frankfurt.

About the Authors

Michael Budig holds an engineering degree and has been one of the two Managing Directors of VGF since 1999. In 2008, he was appointed to serve for a further five years. Budig’s list of previous employers includes Üstra in Hanover, Stadtwerke Offenbach and Kölner KVB in Cologne. He is also a Member of the Steering Committee of the VDV (Association of German Transport Companies), Chairman of the Works Committee of VDV as well as Chairman of the VDV group for the state of Hesse.

Bernd Conrads has been the Press Spokesman for VGF since 2002. He trained as a journalist and following his studies and a period at the Axel Springer School of Journalism, he held various editorial posts including positions at Die Welt, B.Z., Sat.1 and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung before joining VGF. Since 2005, Conrads has also held the position of Head of Corporate Communication. The VGF fleet is now completely low-floor and all VGF vehicles have air-conditioning and clean engines fulfilling the EEV standard Copyright: Foto: VGF budig:Layout 1 8/2/11 09:44 Page 4