Metronome gives up: DB Regio takes over the Göttingen-Hannover route!

Metronome gives up: DB Regio takes over the Göttingen-Hannover route!

There are major changes in rail transport in the Göttingen region. The Metronome trains on the popular regional train route between Göttingen and Hanover will continue to operate until June 2026. But after that, Deutsche Bahn (DB Regio) will take over the RE2 route to Uelzen. This has given many passengers in the area food for thought, especially since Metronome ceased operations in March 2024 due to financial difficulties, such as this Göttingen Tageblatt reported.

At Göttingen train station, travelers expressed mixed opinions about the metronome trains. Gesa Ludwig, 23, expresses her desire for faster connections and a consistent frequency, which is currently once an hour. Daniel Falk, on the other hand, has sharply criticized the punctuality of the metronome and hopes for more reliability with DB Regio.

Quality and punctuality

Numbers speak for themselves. According to that LNVG quality monitor Last year, the RE2 metronome line was one of the least punctual in Lower Saxony, with only 75 percent punctuality. This means that 25 percent of the trains were more than five minutes late. These numbers are viewed particularly critically by travelers like Carmen Heise, who only rated the metronome with one star.

Heise also says that she misses the two levels of the metronome trains and is worried about possible price increases with the new provider. Tobias Jaeschke and Emma Bourseau, 22, agree with this opinion, with Jaeschke demanding punctuality and a stress-free connection to Göttingen, and Bourseau reporting frequent failures and technical malfunctions at Metronome.

Nevertheless, there is also positive feedback on the reliability of the reduced metronome schedule. Like that WEEKLY As noted, Metronome claims a reliability of over 99 percent, but this only refers to the number of planned and actually driven trains. The fact that punctuality is not synonymous with reliability has been made clear by the LNVG. According to the metronome, punctuality was around 75 percent, which frustrated many passengers.

Outlook for the future

The stabilization timetable, introduced due to an acute staff shortage, comes in response to frequent train cancellations and a large number of construction sites and broken trains. To improve the quality and availability of trains, Metronom has already taken measures to increase the number of train drivers through targeted advertising and family-friendly working hours. The training of these specialists takes between 11 and 13 months.

Passengers in Göttingen and the surrounding area hope that the upcoming change of operator to DB Regio will bring a noticeable improvement in quality and reliability. The anonymous user who expressed his opinion on the current conditions puts it succinctly: “It can only get better.” Many hope for easier refunds in the event of delays, an ongoing challenge that has often been linked to the metronome.