Regentalbahn

The Regentalbahn (Regentalbahn AG – Die Länderbahn) is railway company based in Bavaria, and is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato and the Luxembourg infrastructure fund Cube, through the German holding company of Netinera. It runs railway infrastructure, as well as regional and long-distance passenger services in Bavaria and Saxony with links into the Czech Republic, and Germany-wide goods trains.

The subsidiary Regental Bahnbetriebs-GmbH (RBG) operates goods trains though its subsidiary Regental Cargo, and passenger trains through Vogtlandbahn GmbH (VBG), whilst Regental Fahrzeugwerkstätten operates railway wokshops. A fourth subsidiary Regental Kraftverkehrs, a bus operator, ceased operations in 2004.

On 9 May 1889 the "AG Lokalbahn Gotteszell - Viechtach" railway company sprang to life as a result of a "concession for the construction and operation of a standard gauge railway from Gotteszell to Viechtach" dated 28 April 1889. Lokalbahn was the name for a local branch line in Bavaria.

On 10 November 1890 goods trains were already running from Gotteszell to Teisnach and on 20 November 1890 full services to Viechtach began. The company acquired in 1903 the granite factory of Teisnach AG and the Prünst quarry, that still provides ballast for track construction today. On 1 January 1928 the Lokalbahn Deggendorf-Metten AG was also acquired and merged with the Gotteszell – Viechtach Lokalbahn company which was now called the Regentalbahn AG. In 1924/25 construction of the line from Viechtach to Blaibach was begun. Goods services started here on 2 January 1928 and passenger trains on 1 February 1928. On the 1 January 1973 the Regentalbahn AG also took over the eighty-year-old AG Lokalbahn Lam - Kötzting.

The period since the 1970s has been marked by modernisation and rationalisation. A large number of railcars were procured (initially second-hand, but since the 1980s new ones as well) and various parts of the business split into subsidiaries. In 2002 the Regentalbahn acquired the trade name Die Länderbahn ("The State Railway"), with which it is clear that it is active in Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia and the Czech Republic.

...
Wikipedia