2019 overview

In 2019 Abellio Germany achieved a revenue of € 534,2 million from its operations which will grow to approximately € 830 million in 2021 after all contracts have been fully mobilised. The EBIT of € -24,5 million (2018 € -1.4 million) was below target due to:

1. new tariff agreements with the unions resulting in the need for more employees, higher staff costs and additional recruitment and training costs,

2. high penalties for cancellations, punctuality and quality (€ 19.4 million) mainly due to an increased level of track works,

3. start-up problems at the start of new concessions negatively impacted the 2019 result.

During the year mobilisation costs for concessions started and to be started of € 9.5 million (2018 € 7.0 million) have been recognised and are included in the reported results. Mobilisation costs are partly capitalised and partly expensed as incurred whilst revenues will not be generated until the actual start of the operation.
Currently Abellio Germany runs 292 train vehicles serving approximately 256,000 passengers a day and employs 2,754 people. According to ‘Competition-Report 2019/2020’ of Mofair Abellio Germany became the fourth largest train operating company among the competition railways in Germany, with a market share of 5.3 percent by annual train-kilometres of 52.8m at the end of 2019. In recent years, Abellio has built up a strong competitive position in the German rail market.

• * Intercompany financial result consists of interest charges on loans and guarantee fees to shareholders

In June 2019 Abellio in Baden-Wurttemberg started operating the first phase of the Stuttgarter Netz (STN) and the second phase in December 2019. The third phase will start in June 2020. Abellio in North Rhine-Westphalia started operating the first phase of the Rhein-Ruhr-Express (RRX) in December 2018. The second phase will start in June 2020. In Mitteldeutschland, the STS concession went in December 2018 into its fourth year of operations. Despite many infrastructure works of DB Netz, the performance of Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland was good on the STS-network with an average punctuality of 95.4 % and punctuality in DISA has improved during the year after a difficult start in December 2018 resulting in an average punctuality of 92.3 %.
In the quality reports of the Regional Transport Association of Westphalia-Lippe (NWL), Abellio has continuously been on the podium as a gold and silver medal winner in recent years. The Rhine Ruhr Public Transport Authority (VRR) also consistently gives Abellio top marks in its customer satisfaction ranking. The company can score points in punctuality, seating and train attendants. In addition, the passengers in Abellio trains feel particularly safe. Accordingly, the company occupies the first six places in the ranking out of 49 contracts. Overall customer satisfaction with the company increased, making Abellio the most popular railway company according to VRR for passengers in Nord Rhine- Westphalia for the first time since 2013.
Abellio employees have also won several national and regional awards in the renowned “Eisenbahner mit Herz” (Big-hearted Rail Employees) competition organised by the Allianz pro Schiene (Pro-Rail Alliance). This year one of our conductors from Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland became State Winner Thuringia.

Organisation and staff

Abellio Germany’s head office is based in Berlin with subsidiary offices in Halle, Bielefeld, Hagen and Stuttgart. Abellio has collective tariff agreements with the unions Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer (GDL) and Eisenbahn Verkehrs Gewerkschaft (EVG). With the mobilisation of several new networks and the results of the tariff agreements with the unions Abellio had to make great efforts in an empty labour market in Germany in order to hire enough personnel to comply with the contracts. The integration of so many new colleagues is a demanding task for the organisation.

New trains

Abellio Germany has ordered new rolling stock via an operational lease arrangement: 52 Bombardier Talent 2 trains will be produced for Stuttgarter Netz. The trains for Abellio, owned by the PTA Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (NVBW), will consist of 26 electric multiple units with 3 vehicles and 26 electric multiple units with 5 vehicles. Unfortunately, the manufacturer Bombardier was not able to deliver the ordered trains on the agreed dates. Replacement concepts with older and several train types had to be introduced at the start of the concession resulting in a high level of complexity in operations and low punctuality.
In order to be able to fully implement the timetable and the capacity requirements as ordered by the PTA, Abellio has developed a precautionary concept. The missing 18 trains will be replaced with vehicles of different types borrowed from Agilis GmbH, WestfalenBahn GmbH and DB Regio AG. Abellio also commissioned DB Regio AG to operate the line Stuttgart to Heilbronn for a few months. Train drivers had to prepare and be trained for a wide variety of train types which was time consuming. The full homologation of the new trains by the Federal Railway Authority is delayed until mid-2020.
On behalf of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) Stadler supplied 41 flirt vehicles of the new fleet for the S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr operated by Abellio.
For the Abellio Ruhr-Sieg-Network II, the previous vehicles were refurbished. 17 two or three-part “FLIRT” electric multiple units (Stadler) and a diesel multiple unit “Coradia LINT” (Alstom) are in operation. Special highlight in this network is a feel-good train. This train has a colorful family compartment and a special interior design with many graphic details. A striking exterior design as well as a new light ambience and a new seating in 1st and 2nd class provide further comfort on the journey.