Timetable chaos in Cottbus: evening buses are canceled en masse!
Massive bus failures in the Spree-Neiße district affect traffic on July 15, 2025. Organizational problems are the reason.

Timetable chaos in Cottbus: evening buses are canceled en masse!
On July 15, 2025, passengers in Cottbus and the Spree-Neiße district were once again surprised by extensive chaos in bus traffic. How LR Online Reportedly, numerous bus connections will be canceled that day, with a total of five lines affected.
The cancellations are causing dissatisfaction, particularly on the evening connections between Cottbus and Hoyerswerda. Among other things, the departures of line 800 at 9:17 p.m. and at 10:02 p.m. from Cottbus and 8:28 p.m. from Spremberg remain unoccupied. Line 855 will also be seriously affected, with canceled trips from the bus station at 4:30 p.m. and 5:05 p.m. and from the hospital at 4:48 p.m. and 5:18 p.m. The cancellations continue with other lines, such as line 868, whose departure from the Düben junction at 5:49 a.m. is also canceled.
Cause of the failures
According to Ralf Thalmann, managing director of Cottbusverkehr, organizational problems are the main reason for these failures. The irregularities in the timetable are not new; Similar disruptions occurred as early as May 2025, which were triggered by disputes over rosters. The whole thing is a bit complicated: The RBB24 finds that there is a dispute between the works council and the company management. This conflict primarily concerns the approval of rosters, which are crucial for compliance with break regulations.
In the past, rosters were often implemented without the consent of the works council, which led to tense negotiations. The works council is insisting on compliance with agreements after, according to the Verdi union, a labor court found violations by the employer.
Keep an eye on the situation
The impact of the outages is considerable: over 70 trips are affected in the Spree-Neisse district every day, including numerous school buses. Parents of affected students are asked to contact Cottbusverkehr directly in order to possibly register for special student transport. A clarification meeting is scheduled for Thursday to discuss and possibly defuse the confusing situation.
In addition to the acute situation, the transport company also comments on the long-term optimization of duty scheduling. Loud BSL Transportation There are significant problems in duty scheduling in the municipal transport company, which lead to a high proportion of underperformance hours. The focus is on optimizing rosters to make operations more stable. But the path there is currently paved with organizational hurdles and internal conflicts.
What will happen next remains uncertain. One thing is clear, however: passengers in Cottbus and the surrounding area must prepare for additional inconveniences and uncertainties until an amicable solution is found.