Replacement service for all state railways Bonn residents must prepare for massive disruptions starting Tuesday

Bonn · Bonn's light rail lines, such as the much-used 66, will only run with restrictions from 2 to 10 August. The Public Transport Company (Stadtwerke) is connecting its new digital signal box.

 Bonn's light rail lines, such as the much-used 66, will only run with restrictions from 2 to 10 August. The Public Transport Company (Stadtwerke) is connecting its new digital signal box.

Bonn's light rail lines, such as the much-used 66, will only run with restrictions from 2 to 10 August. The Public Transport Company (Stadtwerke) is connecting its new digital signal box.

Foto: Meike Böschemeyer

During the summer holidays, both rail and car commuters will have to put up with restrictions on much-used routes in the city area. One of the biggest interruptions by the Bonn public transport company (SWB) will affect all tram lines 16, 18, 63, 66, 67 and 68, i.e. connections from Bonn to Cologne, Bad Godesberg, Tannenbusch and the Siegburg long-distance railway station, from 2 to 10 August. During this time, SWB will be using buses extensively instead of trains.

The SWB is using the nine days to finalise the replacement of the electronic signal box at the main station, which has been in progress for two years. The signal box controls rail traffic, for example it switches the signals for the drivers in the tunnels. The communal transport company has a total of three such signal boxes in the city area: one in Bad Godesberg, one in Ramersdorf and another at Bonn's main station.

Old signal box dates from the 70s

The upcoming work will affect the central signal box at the main station, which dates back to the 1970s and is responsible for safety on the section of track from there to Olof-Palme-Allee. It works with electronic relays, as Angela-Maria Franken, head of transport planning at SWB, told the GA. "We have already installed the technology in the last two years, mostly at night, to minimise the impact on passengers," Franken explained. In August, she added, the plan is now to disconnect the nearly fifty-year-old technology and connect the new digital interlocking. The technicians need time to do this, not least to put the new system through its paces.

According to Franken, the replacement of the existing technology involves an investment in the mid-double-digit millions. There are hardly any spare parts left for the old signals box, and there are only a few specialists on the market who are familiar with it. She cites these two points as the main reasons for the new system. Savings could be made in the long run because the digital technology requires fewer vulnerable components and changes can be made via the remote control room to a greater extent than so far. Improvements due to more precise switching would be in the range of seconds at most.

Tram lines not affected in August

The signal boxes primarily control the light rail vehicles and not the trams, which only have one underground stop at Ramersdorf station. Therefore, lines 61 and 62 will not be directly affected by the measures in August.

However, a major event in the Rheinaue will coincide with the downtime of the trams. The Stadtwerke are advising the organisers on how to organise the arrival and departure of the "Lieblingslieder" Schlager Festival, which has the promising subtitle "Germany's biggest catchy tune spectacle", during this time. According to Franken, replacement buses for the signal box renovation will mainly run via the main station. The festival on Saturday, 6 August, where Dieter Bohlen, Michelle, DJ Ötzi and Marianne Rosenberg, to name but a few, are expected to perform, is to be served by buses from the UN Campus railway station to the festival grounds in the Rheinaue. The organiser would have to bear the costs for additional journeys.

In addition, during the first three holiday weeks from 25 June to 16 July, the Stadtwerke had track renewals scheduled at Konrad-Adenauer-Platz, in Sankt Augustiner Straße, at Berliner Freiheit and in Sankt Augustin.

Resurfacing of Oxfordstraße since 4 July

From 4 to 20 July, the City of Bonn entered the second construction phase on Oxfordstraße to carry out the extensive asphalt pavement resurfacing. During the 17-day construction period, the city set up one lane in each direction for motorised individual traffic in the section between Wilhelmstraße and Kölnstraße - over the tracks on which the 66 and 62 railway lines normally run. During this time, no trains can run between Bonn main station and Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz. Instead, SWB will send buses. (Original text: Philipp Königs / Translation: Jean Lennox)

Meistgelesen
Neueste Artikel
Zum Thema
Aus dem Ressort