Suche
Mein Konto
Transport Minister defends train cancellations – only a few passengers!
Brandenburg's Transport Minister Tabbert defends cancellations of regional trains due to low passenger numbers. Criticism of rural isolation.
Transport Minister defends train cancellations – only a few passengers!
In Brandenburg, the decisions of Transport Minister Detlef Tabbert (BSW) are causing a stir. The minister defends the cancellation of certain regional trains on the edge of the day and on the western section of the RB 27 on weekends. He emphasizes that some connections are only used by a few passengers on average. A trip between Basdorf and Wensickendorf has just two passengers, while a late train between Cottbus and Elsterwerda only has five passengers. According to Tabbert, an offer can only be maintained if it is accepted accordingly by passengers, reports nordkurier.de.
However, the unsubscribes do not only elicit approval. CDU transport politician Nicole Walter-Mundt expresses sharp criticism and warns of the threat of isolation in rural areas. She points out that the route between Oranienburg-Schmachtenhagen and Fichtengrund train station is currently part of a reactivation study. It is incomprehensible that money is being spent on a reactivation report at the same time as other routes are being discontinued. Walter-Mundt emphasizes that reactivating a route is far more expensive than canceling it.
Passenger numbers are increasing
Interestingly, however, there is a decline of 3.6% on the S-Bahn in Berlin, which corresponds to around 17 million fewer passengers. The reasons for this are mainly due to construction work and strikes. In addition, sales of the Germany ticket have decreased slightly, as new offers such as the Germany semester ticket and the Berlin subscription are leading to a shift in demand.
Sustainability in public transport
The importance of local public transport is also underlined by the role of the member companies of the VDV (Association of German Transport Companies). These transport around 26 million passengers every day, replacing around 18 million car journeys. In 2023, they saved an estimated 10 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and the value created by the sustainable mobility economy in Germany is around 118 billion euros. This information provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities facing public transport and highlights the need for wise transport planning to meet the needs of the population, as vdv.de summarizes.