Traffic plans for Bonn Venusberg aerial cableway
Bonn · Nine possible routes for the cableway were discussed at a public meeting on Wednesday.
The details of the Bonn aerial cableway project are becoming clearer. On Wednesday evening, Thomas Baum, the expert conducting the feasibility study for the city, presented his first interim findings at the second public meeting. He has analysed nine connection possibilities for a cableway from the Venusberg.
They lie in two corridors with different connection lengths. A reminder: the aim is to look into an easy connection between the Venusberg and the government quarter as well as an extension over the Rhine. The longest line on one route would be from the Venusberg via four stations - Hindenburgplatz, the Deutsche Bahn stop at the UN Campus, the Posttower and the Rheinaue – to the planned Deutsche Bahn stop at Ramersdorf (with connection to the S13 line). Another would be via the tram stop Olof-Palme-Allee south of the Südbrücke (South Bridge) either to the Ramersdorf tram stop or Oberkassel station.
Baum presented various estimated passenger numbers for the year 2030. The northern route would be particularly heavily used with about 6000 commuters to the Deutsche Bahn Ramersdorf stop. A connection to the Ramersdorf tram stop would be viable with only 3260 passengers. Baum said, depending on the connection, an aerial cableway would significantly reduce the number of cars by 1000 to 2000 per day.
Michael Isselmann from the city planning office made clear that questions of cost and the exact cableway system were premature. To date, however, the study indicated that Bonn does not need a heavy-duty cable car like that in Koblenz.
A workshop for route development will take place at the start of November. He estimates the study will be available in the first half of 2017 and the public will be given information in a final public meeting. The study will only complete an examination of two routes. These will be decided by the city council after considering the outcome of the public dialogue.
It is not only profitability that needs to be weighed up. Baum will also have to carry out a risk appraisal. Building an aerial cableway whose cabins must maintain a minimum height of 2.5 metres above the house roofs will be easier if it passes over fewer private properties. The southern route therefore has a good chance as the planned southern tangent is fairly free of residential buildings. (Original text: Philipp Königs. Translated by Kate Carey.)
