Key takeaways
- There are two BOBs. This one runs at Lake Constance, the other south of Munich – all they share is three letters.
- The company belongs to local authorities, not a transport group. That's the exception among regional brands.
- The line has run electrically since December 2021, with eight second-hand multiple units in blue livery.
- Blue is the real identifying feature here – the vehicle type itself is common nationwide.
- Operations are due to transfer at the end of 2027. Whether the brand survives that is open – the vehicle numbers will stay traceable.
Contents
- 1.Fact file
- 2.Business areas
- 3.Structure & brands
- 4.History at a glance
- 5.How to recognise the company
- 6.Strengths and weaknesses
- 7.A railway born from a withdrawal
- 8.Who runs between Friedrichshafen and Aulendorf?
- 9.How to identify the blue trains
- 10.Two BOBs compared directly
- 11.How much time do you have left?
- 12.When it’s really this BOB
- 13.Who else runs between Lake Constance and the Alb
- 14.Conclusion
- 15.Frequently asked questions
Fact file
| Role in the system | Municipal regional railway with its own brand on a main line |
|---|---|
| Owner | entirely municipal – Bodenseekreis, Landkreis Ravensburg and the participating towns and a municipality |
| Legal form | GmbH & Co. KG |
| Route | Friedrichshafen – Meckenbeuren – Ravensburg – Weingarten – Aulendorf |
| Start of operations | 1993 between Friedrichshafen and Ravensburg, extended to Aulendorf from 1997 |
| Rolling stock | eight second-hand electric multiple units in blue, in service since December 2021 |
| Nickname | Geißbockbahn – after a regional folk song |
| Outlook | Operations are due to transfer to another operator at the end of 2027 |
| Official website | www.bob-fn.de/de/index.php |
Business areas
Structure & brands
History at a glance
How to recognise Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn (BOB)
Does the train really belong to Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn (BOB)?
- Blue livery – the most striking feature on the network between Lake Constance and Oberschwaben
- Second-hand electric multiple units – the type is common across Germany, the livery is not
- Route – Friedrichshafen, Meckenbeuren, Ravensburg, Weingarten, Aulendorf
- Line number RB 91 on displays and timetable boards
- Stop at the airport and exhibition centre near Friedrichshafen, an operational peculiarity
- Data panel – for second-hand vehicles the only reliable evidence of keeper and origin
- Abbreviation BOB – identical to the Bavarian Oberlandbahn and therefore a constant source of confusion
Strengths and weaknesses
What the company stands for
- A clear colour scheme, unique in Germany, for a widely used vehicle type
- Municipal ownership makes the structure unusually easy to follow
- A compact line you can cover completely in a single day
- Second-hand vehicles with a past life – interesting vehicle histories in the data panel
- A good example that not every regional brand belongs to a group
Where it falls short
- The abbreviation BOB is used twice and regularly leads to mix-ups
- Only one line and one vehicle type – variety is limited
- The announced change of operator leaves the future of the brand's presence open
- The vehicles were taken on second-hand; what becomes of them after a change of operator is uncertain
- Hardly any freight traffic under this brand – the line yields little for locomotive photography
Updated: August 2026 – If a sighting list just says “BOB”, the entry is worthless. There are two of them, they sit around 200 kilometres apart, and they have no corporate connection whatsoever. This one is the Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn, popularly known as the Geißbockbahn, and it differs from almost every other regional brand in one crucial respect: behind it stands no group, but a handful of districts, towns and a municipality.
Add the region to your sighting
When an abbreviation is used twice, the place name decides whether your note can still be used later.
A railway born from a withdrawal
In the late 1980s, the state railway withdrew from stations in the region. Rather than accept that, the local authorities around Lake Constance and in Oberschwaben founded a railway of their own. In 1993 it began operating between Friedrichshafen and Ravensburg – as a non-federal company running on federally owned tracks, which was anything but routine at the time. The extension to Aulendorf followed in 1997.
This origin story still explains the structure today. There is no parent group, no sister brands in other federal states and no international involvement. The owners are the same local authorities that also act as the commissioning body and beneficiary of the service – an unusually short chain for German local rail.
Who runs between Friedrichshafen and Aulendorf?
For once the answer is short: the Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn itself. It holds its own licence, employs its own staff and operates under its own name. Brand, keeper and operator largely coincide here – a state of affairs that’s rarer in German regional rail than you’d think.
Two caveats still apply, though. First, the infrastructure doesn’t belong to the BOB but to DB InfraGO. Second, this state of affairs is time-limited: operations on the route are due to transfer to another operator at the end of 2027. Whether that also ends the brand’s presence is an open question – and a good reason to document today’s state now.
The place name is mandatory
Never note just "BOB". Write "BOB Bodensee" or the full name straight away. Without this addition, your sighting is very likely to end up filed under the Bavarian Oberlandbahn – and a mistake you made yourself is hard to untangle later.
How to identify the blue trains
Colour as a first filter
A fully blue electric multiple unit between Lake Constance and Oberschwaben is a strong signal – but only a first filter, not proof.
Check the line number
Regional line RB 91 appears on displays and timetable boards. It pins down the route unambiguously.
Determine the vehicle type
The type is common nationwide; the combination of type and blue livery is not. Note both together.
Read the data panel
For second-hand vehicles this holds the most interesting information: origin, keeper and number.
Add the region
Place and date round off the sighting – and prevent confusion with the identically named Bavarian brand.
Two BOBs compared directly
| Feature | BOB Bodensee-Oberschwaben | BOB Bayerisches Oberland |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Friedrichshafen, Ravensburg, Aulendorf | south of Munich, towards the Alps |
| Owner | districts, towns, municipality | an international transport group |
| Traction in regular service | electric | diesel |
| Rolling stock procurement | taken on second-hand | provided under the service contract |
| Brand appearance on the train | its own presentation | presentation of a sister brand |
The table shows how little two brands sharing the same abbreviation can have in common. If you know both, you can usually expose a mislabelled sighting from a single detail: the type of traction. A diesel railcar at Lake Constance no longer belongs to this line in regular service, and an electric multiple unit in the Bavarian Oberland doesn’t belong to that one.
Make vehicle histories traceable
Second-hand vehicles tell their story through their number – record it while they're still running here.
How much time do you have left?
How much longer will the blue trains run?
Schedules in local rail shift. This calculation is a planning aid, not a guarantee.
When it’s really this BOB
Definitely the Bodensee BOB if …
- the train runs between Friedrichshafen and Aulendorf
- a blue electric multiple unit is running on line RB 91
- the data panel shows the municipal company as keeper
Take a closer look if …
- an identical multiple unit turns up in a different livery
- the train is standing at Aulendorf among several other services
- a vehicle is stabled with no destination display
It's a different brand if …
- the train is running in the Bavarian Oberland
- it's a diesel railcar in regular service
- the data panel shows an unfamiliar keeper marking
For completeness: classes such as the Regio-Shuttle RS1 and older diesel railcars still shape the region too – just under different operators and on different routes. How to systematically tell such vehicles apart is described in the guide to identifying classes.
Announced is not the same as done
Changes of operator in local rail get postponed, adjusted, or turn out differently than planned. So word your notes to describe what you actually saw – not what is supposed to apply from some cut-off date. Anything based on an announcement should be labelled as such.
Who else runs between Lake Constance and the Alb
The BOB isn’t travelling alone. In Aulendorf and the wider area, several operators meet, and almost every one brings its own story. SWEG is a state-owned group that has absorbed several regional railways over the years – including the Hohenzollerische Landesbahn, whose abbreviation HzL has survived in common usage to this day.
The RAB shows a completely different set-up: a DB company whose rail services were moved elsewhere within the group and whose name today is mostly seen on buses. Three regional brands, three utterly different ownership structures, all in the same stretch of country – a compact crash course in the structure of German local rail.
In practice this means: if you’re photographing here, always frame the vehicle together with the station. A multiple unit on its own is hard to place in this area, but one with a recognisable station sign is identified instantly. Locations and directions for the area between the Alb and Lake Constance are collected in the spotter guide for the Ulm area, with further suggestions in the Baden-Württemberg guide.
Conclusion
The Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn is a counter-model to the big group brands: run by local authorities, focused on a single line, with second-hand rolling stock in a livery found nowhere else. Anyone who documents it documents a model, not just a train.
Two things you shouldn’t forget while doing that. First, the place name belongs in every sighting, or it clashes with its Bavarian namesake. Second, a window of time is running: the announced change of operator at the end of 2027 could replace today’s picture entirely. What gets recorded now can’t be caught up on later.
In short
A municipal regional railway with its own licence and its own brand. Recognisable by blue and RB 91 – verifiable only via the vehicle number.
Capture today's state while it still holds
Blue multiple units, a municipal railway, one line: this could be history within a few years.
Summary
- A railway that came into being because the state railway withdrew, and which has since been carried by the region's local authorities.
- The switch to second-hand electric rolling stock shows how municipal operators solve vehicle procurement pragmatically.
- Anyone logging a sighting here should add "Bodensee" – otherwise it ends up filed under the wrong BOB.
- The announced change of operator makes the coming years a window of time that won't come round again.
Frequently asked questions
Why are there two railways with the abbreviation BOB?
Because both names happen to produce the same initial letters: Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn and Bayerische Oberlandbahn. There is no corporate connection between them whatsoever. If you only label a sighting "BOB", it becomes useless – always add the region.
Who owns the Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn?
It is entirely in municipal hands: Bodenseekreis, Landkreis Ravensburg and participating towns and a municipality hold the shares. So there is no transport group behind it – unlike most other regional brands. For you at the lineside that means there's no parent group that explains further brands.
Why is it called the Geißbockbahn?
The nickname comes from a regional folk song in which a farmer improperly transports a goat on the train. It's a term that grew out of local usage, not an official brand name. Nicknames like this keep turning up in sighting lists and should never replace the company's proper name there.
Which vehicles run on the line today?
Since December 2021, eight electric multiple units that were taken on second-hand and are living a second life in blue livery; technically they belong to the Class 425 / 426 / 435 family. Before that the line ran with diesel railcars. The switch was made possible by the electrification of the line.
What happens to the line in 2027?
Operations are due to transfer to another operator at the end of 2027; a takeover under the responsibility of the state and DB Regio is under discussion. That doesn't automatically settle what happens to the brand, livery and vehicles. Such transitions are the norm in tendered local rail services – the article Timetable change: what changes puts this in context.
Is the BOB its own railway operator?
Yes. The Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn runs its own trains and is therefore one of the cases where brand and operator coincide. That's by no means a given among regional brands – how often the two diverge is shown in the guide Who's actually running this train?.
Does the BOB run on its own tracks?
No. It runs on lines of the general network and was, at the time, one of the first non-federal railways to do so. That makes DB InfraGO responsible for the infrastructure and the BOB responsible for the train – a textbook example of the separation between network and operations.
How can I identify the trains fastest?
By the blue livery. The vehicle type itself is common nationwide and runs in many other liveries, but the blue variant at Lake Constance is distinctive. Don't rely on that alone, though: colour is always the weakest identifying feature, as the article on special liveries shows.
What makes Aulendorf interesting for spotters?
There the line meets other services heading towards Ulm and Oberschwaben, so several operators and vehicle types come together at one end of the platform. That's ideal for identification: you can compare different brands side by side instead of having to tell them apart from memory.
What belongs in a good sighting on this line?
Besides the date and location, above all the full vehicle number. For second-hand vehicles it's especially interesting because it documents their origin and allows comparisons with previous areas of operation. How it's structured is explained in the guide to the UIC number.
Log vehicles from Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn (BOB)
Company, vehicle, location and date logged in seconds – and visible to the community.
The operational level in the railway operator database
Who actually runs the trains, with keeper markings and identifying features on the vehicle.
Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn (BOB)
The Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn is a regional local transport company. Its abbreviation BOB is used twice in the German railway world – a classic stumbling block.
Local & regionalDB Regio AG
DB Regio is Deutsche Bahn's local rail division. The group organises regional services regionally – which is why the brand on the train and the keeper marking on the vehicle often don't match.
Local & regionalDB Regio Stuttgart GmbH
DB Regio Stuttgart GmbH is an independent company within Deutsche Bahn's local rail services. The legal form in the name is more than a formality.
Local & regionalSWEG Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-GmbH
SWEG is Baden-Württemberg's state-owned transport company. This page explains how the roles of transport authority, fare association and railway operator divide up.
Typical vehicles
Class 425/426/435
Class 425 is the regional variant of the 423 family, and the 426 its two-part short version. You'll recognise both by the same front shape – and by train length.
ClassClass 650 (Stadler Regio-Shuttle RS1)
The Regio-Shuttle RS1 of Class 650 is Germany's most distinctive single-part diesel railcar. Here's how to recognise it by its front, windows and roof.
ClassClass 628 / 629
Class 628 is the classic two-part DB diesel railcar for regional services. The 629 is its twin-engined sister. Here's how to tell them apart in the field.
ClassDB Class 611
The Class 611 was DB's second attempt at tilting-technology diesel railcars: 50 two-car units, technically demanding and a long-standing problem child.
More companies
Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB)
The Bayerische Oberlandbahn is a case study in reverse: the company still exists, but its name has all but disappeared from the train. Anyone travelling to Munich-Holzkirchen today mostly sees a sister brand instead – yet still logs a BOB sighting.
BrandDB ZugBus Regionalverkehr Alb-Bodensee (RAB)
The name contains the word ZugBus (train-bus), but today it mostly runs buses. The RAB's rail services passed to DB Regio Baden-Württemberg. Anyone reading old vehicle lists will find a company that no longer appears in train operations in this form.
GroupSWEG Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-AG
The SWEG Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-AG is majority-owned by the state of Baden-Württemberg but runs under a name many mistake for a private railway. Services aren't operated by the AG itself but by operating companies – and these carry different names on paper and on the vehicle.
BrandBreisgau-S-Bahn (BSB)
The Breisgau-S-Bahn proves that brands can outlive their companies. The GmbH of the same name was merged into SWEG in 2017 – the name stayed on the trains. Today two different operators run in the same S-Bahn network with two different vehicle families.
Related guides from the blog
- Who's Actually Running That Train? How to Identify Railway Operators
- Timetable Change: What Changes and Why Spotters Love It
- Trainspotting Baden-Württemberg: The Best Spots, Tips & Routes
- Drehscheibe Online Ulm: Current Sightings, the Best Photo Spots in Ulm/Neu-Ulm, ICE on the New High-Speed Line
- Reading the UIC number: what the 12 digits on a vehicle reveal
- Advertising Locomotives and Special Liveries: How to Track Down Current Vehicles
