Public transportation Politicians call for emergency plan for aging Bonn trams
Bonn · A city planning committee is meeting to discuss last weeks cancellations of Line 61. Despite broken down tram cars, rail traffic should still be able to run without delays so passengers are not affected.
The SPD party has submitted an urgent request to the planning committee to come up with an emergency timetable for public transport. In the event that further trams are in need of repair and the SWB transportation authorities have to put them out of service, it should be ensured that all lines can still provide a minimum service. Leasing buses should be considered for such a scenario.
SWB spokesman Werner Schui said the cancellations on the route from Dottendorf to Auerberg were a “special situation.” Buses shuttled between Bonn Central Station and Kopenhagener Straße to fill the gap. The problem was eight defective tram cars, one with heavy rust damage. The workshop is still waiting for parts, with deliveries expected in April at the earliest.
Anja Wenmakers, the chief executive of SWB public transport, apologized for the delay in switching to buses for that route but said having that alternative was better than having no service at all. The trams are from 1994, which means they are maintenance-intensive. An average life expectancy for the vehicles is 25 years, which brings them to next year. A report from the technical oversight organization Tüv was presented to the SWB Supervisory Boards in February 2017. It did not report an imminent threat but found "considerable corrosion damage" and thus an "urgent need for action".
Customer satisfaction is getting worse
Another reason for the cancellations last week was a high illness rate due to employees out with the flu. Monika Pohl of SWB said she would work to try to ensure a larger number of reserve drivers for such emergencies. This certainly would not be bad for customer satisfaction, which has worsened considerably. In the third quarter of 2017, there were 2,176 passenger complaints (same period last year: 1,663 complaints). Mainly, the complaints were about a lack of punctuality - this represented 1,206 complaints. The SWB attributes this to a high level of sick leave before the climate conference.
Rolf Beu (Green party), supervisory board member of SWB Bus und Bahn, understands the anger of commuters. In his view, there are two ways to improve punctuality: limiting supply or providing more money for public transport. "But where should the money come from?" he asks. The SPD faction accuses the council coalition of delaying the decision to buy new trams. Council member Angelika Esch proposes a revision of the maintenance concept and a possible takeover of discarded trams. Lord Mayor Sridharan said that one has to learn from this experience by planning ahead and that he was pleased that a bidding process for new trams had been initiated.
Original text: Philipp Königs, Translation: ck
