The Beuel district council has also commissioned the city administration to examine whether the cable car can be extended on the right bank of the Rhine. The administration has again commissioned two external offices to carry out this investigation and is now presenting the results.
Three different options were examined for a possible extension or expansion of the cable car:
- A: Cable car from Schießbergweg to the Ramersdorf light rail stop
- B: Cable car from Schießbergweg via the Ramersdorf tram stop to the "Om Berg" residential areas
- C: Cable car from Schießbergweg directly to the "Om Berg" residential areas
The study includes the technical feasibility and approvability. It has shown that all three variants are not feasible for different reasons. The reasons for the lack of feasibility are explained below.
Option A: Cable car from Schießbergweg to the Ramersdorf light rail stop
The variant (as a reversible aerial tramway) is possible in terms of technology and approval. However, a comparison of the benefits and costs shows that this variant does not make economic sense and is therefore not worthy of funding.
Option B: Cable car from Schießbergweg via the Ramersdorf light rail stop to the "Om Berg" residential areas
For the section from Schießbergweg to Ramersdorf, the same applies as explained in variant A - it would be technically possible and approvable, but not economically viable. The section from Ramersdorf to "Om Berg" must be considered separately: A cable car would be technically feasible in this section. However, it is unlikely to be approved because it would have to fly over private land and encroach on protected natural areas. In addition, a rough assessment of the comparison of benefits and costs has shown that there would be no overall economic benefit and no eligibility for funding.
Option C: Cable car from Schießbergweg directly to the "Om Berg" residential areas
This option is not technically feasible because there is no space for cable car supports in Ramersdorf. In addition, approval is difficult because, as in variant B, private land would have to be flown over and protected natural areas would have to be encroached upon.
Overall, the study comes to the conclusion that the cable car can continue to be planned in its original form, but cannot be extended. The planned main line from Venusberg to Schießbergweg is not only technically feasible and eligible for approval, but has also already undergone a standardized assessment and achieved a high benefit-cost factor of 1.6. This means that for every euro invested, there will be an economic benefit of 1.60 euros when the cable car is completed.
Expert opinion published with template
The city administration has published the expert opinion on the "Om Berg" cable car extension on the right bank of the Rhine together with a communication template here. (opens in a new tab)
The next steps
Various consultations are currently underway with public bodies and authorities. At the same time, various preliminary assessments and planning services are being commissioned and carried out, for example in relation to nature conservation, subsoil and geology, wind, noise and hydrology. This is followed by a functional tender and the commissioning of a cable car manufacturer. This will be followed by a planning approval procedure and finally the construction of the cable car, which will take a comparatively short time. If everything goes according to plan, the people of Bonn will be able to float across the Rhine in their new cable car before 2030.
The cable car project
The cable car in Bonn - from Venusberg on the left bank of the Rhine over the Rhine to Beuel on the right bank of the Rhine - would be the first urban cable car in Germany to be integrated into the public transport system and can be used with a normal local transport ticket such as the Deutschlandticket. The project is being jointly managed by the City of Bonn and Stadtwerke Bonn.
The city administration has published extensive information on the Internet at www.bonn.de/seilbahn (opens in a new tab).