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Tourism boom in the Harz: record numbers, but HSB is struggling with problems!
The Harz narrow-gauge railways recorded a record number of visitors in 2023, but is struggling with rising costs and infrastructural challenges.
Tourism boom in the Harz: record numbers, but HSB is struggling with problems!
The Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (HSB) recorded a remarkable increase in passengers and revenue in 2023. With around 1.14 million passengers and a turnover of around 15.5 million euros, the company has reached new highs. Compared to the previous year, this corresponds to an increase of 6% in passenger numbers and a slight excess in revenue over the 2019 result, which can be seen as a return to pre-Corona levels for HSB. stern.de reports the particular popularity of the route to the Brocken, which was the busiest route with around 507,000 passengers.
Nevertheless, HSB is faced with significant challenges. The costs of energy, personnel and vehicles have risen sharply, resulting in financial strain. 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 HSB, emphasizes the need for a long-term realignment to limit costs 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 financial difficulties, HSB faced weather-related restrictions in 2023. Operations on the Brocken Railway were completely stopped on 29 days and only carried out to a limited extent on another 9 days. The main causes of these restrictions were stormy weather conditions, staff shortages and an insufficient number of operational vehicles. These challenges have resulted in HSB being forced to offer a limited timetable in some cases. diethueringer.de also pointed out that the HSB uses its historic vehicle fleet, which is very attractive for tourists, but organizationally difficult.
In view of the political decision to phase out coal, HSB is also planning to convert its steam locomotives to burn light oil in order to reduce the use of fossil fuels. There are already significant advances in the maintenance of their vehicles; In 2023, work on five steam locomotives and eight passenger cars was completed. Further repair work is already in progress or has begun, but procurement and delivery bottlenecks are delaying maintenance.
The Harz district has responded to the upstream economy and the significant tourism challenges and is planning further tourism development, which will also affect the future of the narrow-gauge railways. The HSB remains in a constant process of adaptation and development in order to secure its place in the Harz region, which has a strong tourism industry.