Tourism boom in the Harz: Record numbers, but HSB fights with problems!

Tourism boom in the Harz: Record numbers, but HSB fights with problems!

Brocken, Deutschland - The Harz narrow -gauge railways (HSB) recorded a remarkable increase in passengers and income in 2023. With around 1.14 million passengers and sales of around 15.5 million euros, the company has reached new maximum values. Compared to the previous year, this corresponds to an increase of 6 % in passenger numbers and a slight excess in the income of 2019, which can be seen for the HSB as a return to the pre-corona levels. stern.de reports of a special popularity of the route to chunk, which with around 507,000 passengers the most accessible Route was.

Nevertheless, the HSB is faced with considerable challenges. The costs of energy, personnel and vehicles have increased significantly, which leads to financial burdens. In order to counteract these increasing expenses, the federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia as well as the municipal shareholders have made increased payments. Karin Müller, the managing director of the HSB, emphasizes the need for a long -term realignment for the cost limit and announces that a concept for future development is being developed. This includes adjustments to the timetables, the organizational structure and the vehicle concepts in order to meet the constant changes in the market situation.

weather -related and personnel challenges

In addition to the financial difficulties, HSB was faced with weather -related restrictions in 2023. The company to the Brockenbahn was completely stopped over 29 days and only carried out on a limited extent on 9 days. The main causes for these restrictions were stormy weather conditions, lack of staff and an insufficient number of operational vehicles. These challenges have led to the HSB forced to offer a limited timetable in some cases. diethueringer.de also pointed out that the HSB uses its historical fleet, which is very attractive for tourists. In view of the politically decided coal phase -out, the HSB also plans to convert the steam locomotive to light oil firing in order to reduce fossil fuel insert. There is already significant progress in maintaining your vehicles; In 2023, work on five steam locomotives and eight passenger cars were completed. Further repair work has already been carried out or have started, but procurement and delivery bottlenecks are delayed.

The district of Harz has reacted on the upstream economy and the significant tourist challenges and is planning a tourist development that will also affect the future of the narrow -gauge railways. The HSB remains in a constant process of adaptation and development to secure its place in the high -tourism resin.