SNCF and Deutsche Bahn agree France-Germany regional rail service

France’s national rail operator SNCF and Germany’s Deutsche Bahn have collaborated on a new regional route crossing the two countries.

The line will connect from Wörth am Rhein to Strasbourg between May and October, initially running four services a day on the weekends only. Plans to expand into the week are being considered, but have not been confirmed.

The agreement was struck between South Rhineland-Palatinate Regional Rail Authority (ZSPNV-Süd) and the French region of Alsace-Lorraine-Champagne-Ardennes. DB Regio is the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary operating trains in the South Rhineland area.

SNCF is to provide the trains to cover the initial capacity, with the service running in the summer months to capture some of the transport demands from leisure passengers travelling to and from France and Germany.

Deutsche Bahn has been busy planning ways to expand its offering, making public its desire to see driverless trains introduced to Germany sometime after 2021. It is also considering using driverless cars to transport passengers to various stations in order to make their train on time.

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