Overview

• An SCI Verkehr analysis projects €544.1 million in investments plus €253.2 million in operating support through 2045 to reach sustainable operations.
• The review cites severe maintenance backlogs across track and rolling stock that put short‑term service continuity at risk.
• The consultants recommend focusing services on the Brocken and Harzquerbahn, noting Wernigerode–Brocken generates 96% of ticket revenue, with the Selketalbahn potentially limited to occasional tourist runs.
• HSB leaders briefed employees, said no layoffs are planned, ruled out insolvency, and warned a phased remediation could take a decade with temporary closures during works.
• Management is preparing late‑September talks with Saxony‑Anhalt and Thuringia and points to legacy, unindexed subsidy arrangements from the 1990s as a driver of underinvestment.