The company H-BAHN21, which operates the H-Bahn in the TU Dortmund area, has been integrated into the parent company DSW21 as announced - with retroactive effect from 1 January 2025. The background to the merger is the ambitious project to connect the H-Bahn to the "Theodor-Fliedner-Heim" U42 light rail station in the Barop district with a new line around two kilometres long. The integration into the parent company DSW21 provides the appropriate legal framework for this expansion project and the associated investments and subsidies. The aim is also to achieve synergy effects with regard to interlocking and automation technology as well as other administrative and technical areas.

The merger will create the new "H-Bahn" division within DSW21's technology division under the management of the former H-BAHN21 Managing Director Elmar Middeldorf. In the long term, this division will also develop into a competence centre for automation. It will remain at the previous H-BAHN21 site on Emil-Figge-Straße, but will otherwise be managed as a DSW21 department. All 16 full-time H-Bahn employees have been transferred to DSW21 as part of the integration.

The expansion of the H-Bahn is continuing at full speed: After the project was included in the state-wide public transport requirement plan at the beginning of the year with the corresponding funding commitments, the contract for the design planning and approval planning (planning approval procedure) is to be awarded in the autumn. At the same time, the city of Dortmund is initiating environmental impact and species protection assessments. The results should be available in 2026, and construction of a test track could start just one year later. Commissioning of the entire two-kilometre expansion route is scheduled for 2029.

Mobility on a new level

DSW21 Board Member for Transport Ulrich Jaeger: "With the H-Bahn extension, we are consistently driving forward the transport revolution in our city and taking sustainable mobility in Dortmund to a new level. Many thousands of passengers will benefit directly from this. Of course, such a flagship project with its enormous financial dimensions needs a suitable framework. I would therefore like to thank all those involved who have worked on the merger with a great deal of commitment, precision and team spirit."

Operations Manager Ralf Habbes adds: "The H-Bahn has been running fully automatically and emission-free with impressive reliability since 1984. It was ahead of its time in the early 1980s and in some ways still is today. We want to bring the light rail and H-Bahn divisions closer together in future and see where there are opportunities for synergies and adaptations. If we introduce a new automation system for the urban railway, this could also provide important impetus for rail operations."

Elmar Middeldorf, previously Managing Director of H-BAHN21 and now Head of "H-Bahn Technology" at DSW21, says: "The transition from a small company to a large group company is undoubtedly a change. However, we have received courteous and comprehensive support right from the start - for which we would like to express our sincere thanks. We all now have the common goal of leading the H-Bahn into a new era. I am very pleased that we are now tackling this under the new framework conditions."

Meticulous preparation

DSW21 has been meticulously preparing the merger in cooperation with H-Bahn21 since last spring. Various working groups dealt with legal, commercial and technical issues. In addition, the former H-BAHN21 colleagues and new DSW21 employees themselves have been at the centre of attention in recent months: they received comprehensive information on personnel and technical topics at several events. A tour of the depot in Dorstfeld was also on the agenda. To make the transition as pleasant as possible, sponsorships and work shadowing are now planned.

The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and the City Council of Dortmund had already approved the merger and the award of a corresponding public service contract (öDA) for the H-Bahn transport service to DSW21 in advance.

About the plannedH-Bahn extension

DSW21 would like to significantly extend the existing three-kilometre-long H-Bahn line network: a new, approximately two-kilometre-long branch is to run from the TU Dortmund North Campus to the "Theodor-Fliedner-Heim" U42 light rail stop in the Barop district. Expert reports have confirmed that the project can demonstrably strengthen climate-friendly local transport in Dortmund and is also economically viable under strict cost-benefit considerations.

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia has already included this connection to the U42 light rail line in the public transport requirement plan. This means that public funding from the Municipal Transport Financing Act (GVFG) can cover up to 95 per cent of the total costs of around €39 million.

Two possible routes are being compared for the test route to be built initially, which is also to form the first section of the new section of the U42 line: The first option runs along Emil-Figge-Straße. Alternatively, a route from the "DO-Universität S" S-Bahn stop via the fields in the "An der Geist" / "Am Waarbaum" area to the "Ortsmühle" student residence is being considered. An elementary prerequisite for the expansion plans is also the commissioning of a new automation system, which is to be trialled on the aforementioned test track.

Photos: Jörg Schimmel/DSW21