World climate summit in Bonn How participants get to the WCCB
Bonn · The participants of the world climate summit will be accommodated in Bonn, Cologne and Koblenz. Shuttlebuses will get them to the WCCB. Trains will be diverted on the right side of the Rhine.
The transport of the participants of the world climate summit is going to be quite a challenge. All involved are aware of this. According to Michael Henseler, spokesperson of the Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB), the daughter company Bus und Bahn already formed an internal task force last November. Since then, this group is involved in all external task forces and steering committees for the world climate conference as well as being part of the intensive exchange between the UN climate secretariat, the federal ministry for the environment and other public authorities.
In every conversation, eall the parties were asked to announce capacities and target figures. „We were promised those, yet we weren’t given a complete overview yet, which leads to the plans for the regular traffic and possible congestions still being at planning level“, says Henseler. Also, there will be a close collaboration with local police, federal police, fire brigade and other security relevant groups. Many participants of the climate summit have to be accommodated in the greater region, in Cologne and Koblenz.
How the Deutsche Bahn wants to handle the additional passengers is not yet decided, according Holger Klein, spokesperson of the Nahverkehr Rheinland GmbH. Precise plans will be announced after the summer holidays. All COP participants will receive a ticket free-of-charge, paid for by the state. State secretary Jochen Flasbarth said during the press conference for COP 23 that he is in close contact with Bahn CEO Roland Pofalla - mainly because of unavoidable works on the train tracks between Cologne and Bonn.
The trains are supposed to be diverted on the right side of the Rhine in addition to setting up commuting traffic to the venue in the Rheinaue. The plans to put shuttle buses - connecting the by then brand new stop at the UN campus, the WCCB and the rest of the meeting places - in place are more advanced already.
The necessary E-buses and fuel-celled buses - approximately 30 in total - will be provided by the Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen (association of German traffic companies), according to Henseler. The Verband is holding its „German Day of Local Traffic“ on November 5, the day before the climate summit begins. 600 bicycles are also supposed to be made available to the summit participants. Original text: Lisa Inhoffen Translation: Mareike Graepel
