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Bonn's west still lacks a streetcar. As part of Bonn's mobility turnaround, Weststadt, Endenich and the Hardtberg district are finally to get their own streetcar.
Fast and comfortable travel between the Hardtberg and Bonn-Zentrum: this should be possible in the future with the Westbahn. A rail link to the west of Bonn has been under discussion since the 1970s - back then as the "Hardtbergbahn". The connection was already urgently needed at the time and has become even more important today. This is because more and more people live in Bonn and are switching to environmentally friendly means of transport, including buses and trains.
Bonn's west needs a rail connection for a successful mobility transition. The light rail and streetcar currently run in all directions of the city, but not to the Hardtberg district. Planning for this major project is progressing steadily.
On March 14, 2024, the Bonn City Council approved the plans for the above-ground streetcar connection from Bonn city center to Réaumurstraße on Brüser Berg.
The implementation of the Westbahn has taken another turn on the road to realization in 2024: The streetcar connection between the main station and Brüser Berg was reviewed by a commissioned engineering firm in terms of its benefits for public transport. The route has a positive benefit-cost factor (NKF) of 1.32, and the feasibility study predicts passenger numbers of between 19,000 and 20,300 between the main station and Endenich in particular.
This high passenger frequency leads to a good benefit-cost factor. The calculation of this factor is part of the so-called standardized evaluation, which answers the question of whether a project makes economic sense. Economically viable means that the costs and benefits of a project are considered for the general public - i.e. not only the consequences for individual groups such as residents or commuters, but also, for example, environmental consequences that affect everyone. On the other hand, the standardized assessment is the basis for the city of Bonn to apply for state and federal funding to finance the infrastructure.
Route worked out: Route up to Brüser Berg
On behalf of the city, an external engineering firm has now developed the route in more detail. The administration is proposing this to the political decision-making bodies.
The map shows the route of the Westbahn (purple line) with the planned route and the planned stops.
Construction phase 1: Central station - Endenich Straße
For construction phase 1, the city administration had examined three options for how the railroad could cross over or under the Deutsche Bahn tracks in the area of Viktoriabrücke: According to current calculations, the route should run from the main station via Thomas-Mann-Straße through a 220-metre-long tunnel underneath the railroad line to Endenicher Straße.
Construction phase 2: Hermann-Wandersleb-Ring - Brüser Berg
Four variants were examined for the route up to Brüser Berg. The city administration is now planning the following variant:
The tracks run via Hermann-Wandersleb-Ring to Provinzialstraße, turn from there into Schieffelingsweg, connect Duisdorf and Telekom Dome and finally end at Réaumurstraße on Brüser Berg.
Earlier considerations to run the Westbahn to the Südwache terminus had to be shelved due to the low passenger potential and the associated deterioration in the benefit-cost factor.
Due to the differences in height and gradients between Duisdorf and Brüser Berg, the streetcar will run a loop at the Telekom Dome according to the recommendation of the city administration and - this should please the Basket fans - this would create a new barrier-free stop at the Telekom Dome.
Planned stops
The favored plan now presented envisages the following stops:
1.
Thomas-Mann-Straße
2.
Karlstraße
3.
Endenich-Mitte/Auf dem Hügel
4.
Erich-Hoffmann-Straße
5.
Euskirchener Straße
6.
Provinzialstraße
7.
Schieffelingsweg
8.
Goerdelerstraße
9.
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße
10.
Telekom Dome
11.
Hallestrasse
12.
Réaumurstrasse
This is how it continues
The next steps are the project and structural planning for the entire route. In addition, specialist reports (noise and vibration, environmental impact study, species protection assessment, landscape conservation plan, subsoil expertise) are required. The city administration will register the Westbahn for the state's public transport requirements plan in 2024 so that funding can be provided. It will also involve the public in the route at an early stage.
The Westbahn - formerly known as the Hardtbergbahn - has been planned again and again since the 1970s. There were a total of four different plans, all of which were rejected. In particular, the exact route through Weststadt was always controversial. In the first plan, the line was to run as a subway under Poppelsdorf Allee. However, almost the entire avenue would have had to be felled for construction and then replanted.
In order to finally successfully plan and build a rail link, the city administration was commissioned in 2015 to examine various options for the streetcar in a feasibility study. This resulted in five different variants. As a result, the Bonn City Council commissioned the city administration to continue planning variant C1 in 2020.
Review: Five main variants examined
Main option A via Endenich Allee
All three sub-variants - A1, A2 and A4 - start at the main station.
A1 runs via the southern underpass, Poppelsdorfer Allee, Baumschulallee, Endenicher Allee, Wesselbahnweg, Endenich Ei, Hermann-Wandersleb-Ring to Provinzialstraße. The sub-variant A2 differs in the routing at the main station. Here, the line would run out of the city on a single track via Poppelsdorf Allee to Baumschulallee and then on to Endenich Allee, and into the city on a single track via Colmantstrasse and Quantiusstrasse. Alternative A4 is a citizens' proposal which, like option A1, envisages the railroad running parallel to the highway from Wiesenweg to Provinzialstraße.
According to the expert, a combination of option A1 with an underground route from City Hall with a ramp to Baumschulallee would also be conceivable as option A3.
The study confirms the fundamental feasibility of both routes A1 and A2. They are both 3.6 kilometers long, the travel speed is 16.3 kilometers per hour, but only around eleven percent can be implemented as a mixed lane with individual traffic. 8720 inhabitants live in the catchment area of the A1 to A3. Variant A4 was not investigated further, as it would require the demolition of several buildings in Endenich and only around 6,000 people live in the catchment area.
Main option B via Endenich Straße
This alternative would run from Thomas-Mann-Straße and the main station via the northern underpass, Herwarthstraße, Endenich Straße, Endenicher Ei and Wandersleb-Ring to Provinzialstraße.
According to the expert, this variant has considerable disadvantages:
Firstly, the streetcars would have to change direction in front of the main station, which would already fail due to the lack of space or could only be implemented with a turning facility, which would mean a considerable loss of time. In addition, the northern underpass is not high enough.
Main option C via Endenich Straße
Both variants C1 and C2 would not run along the main station, but would turn off Thomas-Mann-Straße into Rabinstraße and pass under the DB and light rail tracks in a tunnel. This route would not affect the planned new underpass for cyclists and pedestrians from the Old Cemetery.
After passing under the railroad tracks, C1 would run via Endenicher Straße, Endenicher Ei and Hermann-Wandersleb-Ring to Provinzialstraße.
C2 would also cross under the Viktoriabrücke bridge after the tracks and then join the C1 route via Nideggerstraße and Karlstraße.
C3 would run in the same way as C1, but would use the future ramp from the traffic circle at the Old Cemetery onto the Viktoria Bridge.
C4 would branch off onto the Wesselbahn route and could thus also connect the new Poppelsdorf university campus and western Poppelsdorf.
Variants C1 and C2 would be feasible, taking into account the walking and cycling routes in the area of the current renovation of the Viktoria Bridge, including access via the new ramp. The route length is between 3.7 and 3.9 kilometers. The advantage of C1 would be that no sections would run in mixed traffic, while C2 would require around 14 percent in mixed traffic with private vehicles. Both variants can be completed at 16.4 kilometers per hour.
Alternative C3 via the Viktoria Bridge is not feasible, as the bridge construction is not designed for this and the minimum radii to be maintained for rail traffic do not permit a streetcar route at the junction of the ramp and the bridge.
The catchment area of C1 and C2 comprises 8249 inhabitants. Both alternatives would also have the advantage that the future development potential on Karlstraße and the former abattoir site could also be developed.
C4 can be combined with all C variants and would reach an additional 1215 residents.
Main option D via Endenich Allee
The route of D1 runs on two tracks through the northern underpass and then turns into variant A1 via Herwarthstraße and Bachstraße. D2 takes the same route as A2, but runs out of town on a single track via the northern underpass. According to the expert, both alternatives have considerable operational disadvantages due to the necessary change of direction before the station.
Main option E via Poppelsdorf Allee
The two variants E1 and E2 are only included in the feasibility study as sketches of ideas because they would take up larger areas of land on the university site in Poppelsdorf and could only be pursued further together with the university and the Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW.
Conclusion
The feasibility study suggests favoring variants A and C. The planning for both was therefore examined in more detail and the track systems were shown in the road cross-section with their own track bodies and mixed areas. The different travel times were calculated and incorporated into the matrix as an evaluation criterion. Neither the travel times nor the catchment areas served show any major differences that would allow one of these variants to be ruled out at this stage.
