In a recent submission on the standardized evaluation and continuation of planning, the city administration had shown that the route achieves a positive benefit-cost factor (NKF) of 1.32 according to a study by an engineering firm. Around 20,000 passengers a day are expected to use the most popular sections of the route. Between the main station and Endenich in particular, the feasibility study predicts passenger numbers of between 19,000 and 20,300. The high frequency leads to a good benefit-cost factor.
Mayor Katja Dörner: "This major project would be a significant addition to our local public transport system and therefore an important building block for the mobility transition in Bonn." Head of Transport Helmut Wieser is convinced that the good cost-benefit factor "will help us to obtain funding for this project."
6.8 kilometers of track and twelve stops
The planned route runs from the main station via Thomas-Mann-Straße through a 220-metre tunnel underneath the railroad line to Endenicher Straße, continues via Hermann-Wandersleb-Ring to Provinzialstraße, turns off from there into Schieffelingsweg, connects Duisdorf and the Telekom Dome and finally ends at Réaumurstraße on Brüser Berg. The plans envisage the following stops: Thomas-Mann-Straße, Karlstraße, Endenich-Mitte/Auf dem Hügel, Erich-Hoffmann-Straße, Euskirchener Straße, Provinzialstraße, Schieffelingsweg, Goerdelerstraße, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße, Telekom Dome, Hallestraße and Réaumurstraße. The total length of the route is 6.8 kilometers. The total costs are estimated at 193 million euros (net).
Next, the city administration will register the Westbahn for the state's public transport requirements plan in 2024. The project and structural planning for the entire route must be carried out and further specialist reports (noise and vibration, environmental impact study, species protection assessment, landscape conservation plan, subsoil expertise) must be prepared. In addition, the city administration will involve the public in the route at an early stage.
Background
Back in the days when Bonn was still the federal capital, a rail connection to the west of Bonn was discussed and initially planned as a subway under the name "Hardtbergbahn". After not a single meter of track could be built in Bonn since 1994, the idea was taken up again in the mid-2010s. Since then, the project has been pursued again as an above-ground tramway under the name "Westbahn". A feasibility study with five variants and several sub-variants was presented in June 2019. In 2020, the Bonn City Council commissioned the administration to continue planning the preferred variant C1. This has now been further refined and a standardized evaluation has been carried out, the result of which offers a good chance of financial support.