Lufthansa has accused German national railway company Deutsche Bahn of being unco-operative over plans to transfer substantial parts of the airline's domestic network to the railways in the year 2001.
Representatives of the airline in talks with the rail company complain that Deutsche Bahn is refusing to make provisions for the transport of airline passengers' luggage on high speed Inter City Express trains, which would take over from the current Lufthansa flights. Without this provision, many overseas passengers will refuse to travel to the airport by train, argues the airline.
The German airline says that it is under political pressure to transfer short haul passengers to the railway, and is comfortable with the plan provided that it can continue to offer its passengers the same level of service as it would on a connecting flight. Otherwise, passengers may be tempted to fly to their ultimate destinations in Germany via other European hubs.
Lufthansa proposes to shut down domestic services between its main hub at Frankfurt, and Cologne, Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, allowing the trains to take over the routes.
Source: Flight International
