Lines 63 and 16 in focus Cancelled trams cause long waiting times in Bonn
Bonn · With the new timetable, 63 trips between Buschdorf/Tannenbusch and Bad Godesberg have been cancelled. This leads to long waiting times because the trains from Cologne are often not on time.
The timetable change implemented in mid-December is having a negative impact on lines 16 and 63 in Bonn. Commuter Ulrich Kissmann, who boards the tram in Hersel or Buschdorf to travel to the city center, speaks of "completely overcrowded and delayed trams". In recent weeks, he says, there have repeatedly been waiting times of half an hour and more, when a ten-minute interval is actually scheduled. He is not alone in his description of the situation. Simone Huber, who also regularly uses the two lines, both of which run within Bonn on the route between Buschdorf/Tannenbusch-Mitte and the Bad Godesberg Stadthalle, sees it very similarly. "The quality and reliability has declined greatly. Both my children often arrive late when school is in session, which understandably not all teachers put up with without complaint.”
The deterioration of the service described by both passengers has its origins in a political decision to update the local transport plan in June of this year. As reported, the city council had to decide at that time how to proceed after the expiration of the Lead City measures which had been funded by the federal government for a limited period. The millions in subsidies had been used, among other things, to increase the frequency of important rail connections, especially outside the peak commuter periods. At the end of the day, the funding did not coincide with an increase in tram cars.
The city council decided by a majority to continue financing part of the measures, which are subsidized with almost nine million euros annually, but only in part. 650,000 euros will be saved with the changeover to the new timetable, in that the trams and buses on the main lines 61, 62, 63, 66 and 600 to 614 will only run at a higher frequency from 11:30 a.m. on Sundays. However, essential for the service of lines 63/16 during the week, which is perceived to have deteriorated, is the decision to omit the trips of the tram line 63 at times when line 16 runs at ten-minute intervals. Savings for the city in local transport services: 2.3 million euros per year.
Because of the omission of these trips, line 63 runs much less frequently during the week than before the timetable change. According to information provided by Stadtwerke Bus und Bahn in response to an inquiry from Bürger Bund Bonn (BBB), before the timetable change there were 332 trips on lines 16 and 63 in both directions on Mondays to Fridays on school days. With the timetable change, 63 trips were cancelled. That amounts to a 19 percent reduction in service. It was not only the BBB that had voted against the coalition's savings proposals in the city council. The CDU was also of the opinion that all Lead City measures should be continued.
KVB attributes unreliability to staff shortages
It had been assumed that the less frequent service would not have such an impact if the transport companies kept to the ten-minute intervals of the timetable to some extent. However, this has not been the case in recent weeks. The public utility company Stadtwerke Bus und Rail (SWB) explains that the trams on lines 16 and 18, both of which connect Bonn and Cologne via routes along the Rhine and over the foothills, were affected by cancellations. The Cologne Transport Authority (KVB) cancelled connections in order to strengthen inner-city services in Cologne in return. For details, one is referred to the KVB, which is in charge of providing information on these connections.
Upon inquiry, their spokesman Matthias Pesch talks about a problem that currently affects not only lines 16 and 18, "but our entire bus and tram service. The "unusually high sickness rate" is more than 20 percent on some days. In previous years, this rate had been eleven percent. In addition to absences caused by illness, the KVB also had to deal with an increased fluctuation among drivers. As a result, he said, driver training capacities have been expanded and a recruitment campaign for new staff was launched in the fall. "We are currently intensively examining a number of options that can help stabilize our timetable and thus make it more reliable," Pesch said. That includes a thinned-out schedule, he said. He announced that a decision on how to proceed would be made in early 2023.
In mid-December, the Bonn SWB also cited a high sickness rate of 16 percent among its approximately 800 drivers as a reason for delays and cancellations in Bonn's local public transport system. This affected a whole series of lines used by commuters and schoolchildren.
(Original text: Philip Königs / Translation: Carol Kloeppel)