Big event in Bonn UN Campus stop expected to feel the squeeze at Rhine in Flames
BONN · Tens of thousands of visitors will stream into the Bonn Rheinaue Park on the first weekend of May for Rhine in Flames. One place in particular is expected to experience a rush of people.
Rhine in Flames will once again attract thousands of visitors to the Rheinaue Park between May 4th and 6th. Because Track 1 is still closed at Bonn Central Station, planners expect many passengers to use the new UN Campus stop. Holger Klein from Rhein-Sieg public transport (VRS) said on Thursday that one could not avoid the traffic chaos caused by such a big event. He appealed to visitors to travel to the fireworks on Saturday night by bus, train and bicycle. To encourage the use of public transport, the trains going towards Cologne and the Ahr Valley, and also the trams and buses of Stadtwerke Bonn (Bonn municipal works) will run more often. More than 100 workers will be deployed to guide the flow of visitors at the public transportation stops.
In the Rheinaue Park itself, not everything is running according to plan. While the green lawn has been restored on time, following the World Climate Conference, the ground cables which had been laid for the tent city are not useable as the connection points are not finished. It is hoped that the connections will be made in the coming year so costs can be saved by using that power, but further discussions are needed to make that final. As it stands, power will be generated for the three stages with the existing network, and countless generators used for the fair rides.
The UN Campus stop is also not yet finished, and this means warning beacons will narrow down the pedestrian and cycling paths. As well, the underpass that visitors will have to pass through is expected to be a bottleneck. According to Klein, this was taken into account in the security concept. “If the stop gets too full, we will close it off for a short time,” he explained and advised visitors not to leave exactly after the last fireworks. “We hope that the flow of visitors will be spread out by the color routing system and the use of many trains.”
More than 500 helpers from fire departments, relief organizations and the DLRG (German organization for water life saving), as well as hundreds of police officers will be on location to ensure safety. Officials will rely more heavily on video surveillance this time, according to chief of operations, Karl-Heinz Hennings. The recordings are only intended to preserve evidence, to be able to convict offenders after the fact. “In the evening, there will also be many officers underway in civilian clothing and in uniform, serving as contacts for the public.” The fire brigade will relocate its operations center from the park grounds to their control center on Lievelingsweg so they are not affected by the weather and not exposed to the noise.
(Orig. text: Nicolas Ottersbach; Translation: ck)
