Munich–Prague railway tender returns for RE/Ex 36 contract

Munich–Prague railway tender is back on the table: Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft (BEG) and the Czech Ministry of Transport have launched a second process to award the operating contract for passenger services linking Munich, Regensburg and Prague, as outlined by BEG.

The new procedure covers the RE/Ex 36 regional line from December 2031 to December 2046. An earlier attempt was cancelled in the fall of 2024 after the authorities did not receive economically viable bids.

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This time, the cross-border rail services contract is being run as a negotiated procedure with a preliminary European selection stage, following adjustments to the award conditions intended to bring more bidders to the table, as also reported by Railway Pro.

Why the Munich–Prague railway tender matters?

Christian Bernreiter, Bavaria’s Minister of Transport and Chair of the BEG Supervisory Board, pointed to the link between Prague and Munich as a significant European mainline and said the complexity of the project calls for sufficient preparation time.

The contract totals about 2.8 million train-kilometres per year, with roughly 1.8 million in Bavaria. The Munich–Regensburg–Prague route is expected to stay broadly in line with the current timetable, with trains running every two hours. One change is a late-evening service from Prague to Munich, leaving the Czech capital at around 7:45 p.m. Additional peak-hour services on Regensburg–Munich and Regensburg–Hof (RE 23) are referenced as being included in other rail service contracts.

Revised requirements aimed at lowering bidder costs

BEG CEO Bärbel Fuchs said the authorities took away key lessons from the failed first tender and simplified the requirements, adding conditions designed to limit costs for bidders. In practice, the updated concept is meant to require fewer locomotives, fewer shunting moves and, implicitly, fewer staff.

Fewer manoeuvres could also help ease congestion at the busy central stations in Munich and Regensburg. At the same time, BEG has kept the requirement for new rolling stock to maintain comfort standards on the international corridor. Currently, the operator on the Bavarian section uses passenger coaches from the 1980s.

For the transition period from December 2028 to December 2031, separate interim contracts will be concluded in both countries. In Bavaria, the tender for the Bavarian part of these interim contracts has been running since September 2025.

Hybrid locomotives to reduce locomotive changes

Operating trains between Munich and Prague remains complex because the route alternates between electrified and non-electrified sections and involves three different power supply systems. While full electrification is not expected until the second half of the contract period, the new requirements still call for a significant reduction in locomotive changes.

Today, trains switch locomotives three times — in Regensburg, Schwandorf and Plzeň. Under the new contract, services would run between Munich and Plzeň without changing locomotives by using hybrid locomotives. A single locomotive change would still be required in Plzeň because Germany and the Czech Republic use different power supply systems.

More seats and passenger comfort on the RE/Ex 36 regional line

To meet increased demand, especially on the Regensburg–Plzeň section, the authorities are ordering trains with at least 500 seats. The vehicles will be new, air-conditioned and equipped with Wi-Fi, while the use of second-hand locomotives will be permitted.

By relaunching the Munich–Prague railway tender, Bavaria and the Czech Republic are aiming to unblock a key cross-border rail link with direct implications for regional and international mobility between southern Germany and Central Europe, with additional context also published by the Czech Ministry of Transport.

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