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Hohenzollerische Landesbahn (SWEG) services in the pass?

  • 20 August 2022
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A number of routes south of Stuttgart are operated by “Hohenzollerische Landesbahn (SWEG)”.

The PDF that lists German operators, https://www.interrail.eu/content/dam/pdfs/internationale-passangebote-jan-2021.pdf, has this to say about SWEG and doesn’t mention Hohenzollerische Landesbahn at all.

This can be interpreted as meaning that the following SWEG routes are excluded;
- Eyach HzL to Hechingen Landesbahn
- Hechingen to Gammertingen to Sigmaringen
- Balingen(Württ) to Schömberg(b Balingen)
- Mengen to Stockach to Radoflzell

The pass has just let me add all of these for tomorrow (Sunday August 21st).

Which is right? The PDF or the pass?
My normal rule for German private railways is that the pass is accepted on routes that were operated by DB in the 80s and 90s and is not accepted on routes that were private in the 80s/90s.
These routes were private in the 90s so my current thought is that the pass is not accepted and I should buy a 9 EUR ticket. In contrast, Tuebingen to Sigmaringen (not via Gammertingen) was DB in the 90s which is why it’s explicitly called out in the PDF.

What do the experts here think?
Is the pass wrong?

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Best answer by mcadv 20 August 2022, 19:20

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1 - 2 yrs ago HzL was merged into SWEG, which has since also taken over the lines on contract of Abellio (owned by NS from NL) and thus has become one of the major operators (and Land-owned ) in Baden-Wüŕtemberg, around Stuttgart. This list of routes is way too small for that they run now.

You can use passes on NEARly all its lines-except a very few minor tiny branches that SWEG has started with->100 yrs go and which were always out of pass-scheme. The usual tourist will not find these. Some only run weekends as excursions.

Note that in practice you will not even notice who the trains have: in that area all the local trains are in white+yellow BWegt livery=indicates they are run on behalf on the Land. Plus that on the very same line a train can be from SWEG, Go-Ahead and also still DB

The info (though I should add that punctual as Germans tend to be they are among the better behaved ones for this type of info) is nearly always out of date-see my remark that former Abellio lines are not mentioned.

You are mad to use now a passday to ride these-the 9€ (Yes, I have currently both and am also in DE- Niedersachsen now, today only scored 3 delays on DB of 2, 2 and +1 hr) is far better value. You may have found that there is excellent publicity for these lines-a large fold-out map (also another one for museumsbahnen in B-W) Tourismusbahnen and if you search+are lucky there are also folders for all these lines with the scarce timings. IF there happens to be a conductor checking s/he wil probably be ´überfragt´ by showing pass-or will just do as ´anyone has the 9€ this month´. But (till now clinging to paper passes myself) understand that the QR-code for the day is readily accepted by DB-conductors and also all in the level C _ Deutschlandtarif (this is for real connoisseurs of the stuff) lines, so I foresee no probs. The very worst that can happen is that they sell you that 9€ if you did not have it yet-then you can also use all the linking buses etc and the yellow Stadtbahn trams in S. And ride its Cog-wheel line this evening.

There may also be again SEV (rail replacement bus) on some of these lines-esp. in/around Calw (yes, was there a wek or 2 ago).

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@mcadv Many thanks for the long and detailed reply. I just started a 3 month continuous pass from the sale so I will be using a pass day tomorrow whether I want to or not.
You mention “ very few minor tiny branches that SWEG has started with->100 yrs go and which were always out of pass-scheme”. If you look at the lines I mention, these were probably never in the pass scheme before. I am deliberately searching out lines that only have a service at weekends.

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