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Big network changes for Bern

Posted: 28 October 2009 | René Schmied, CEO of BERNMOBIL | No comments yet

BERNMOBIL operates public transport services by tram, bus and trolleybus in the city of Bern, the capital of Switzerland, and the surrounding suburban villages of Ostermundigen, Köniz and Bremgarten. Bern has approximately 130,000 inhabitants and including the surrounding villages BERNMOBIL serves approximately 190,000 people. Since 1999, BERNMOBIL is an independent company owned 100% by the city of Bern. Formerly called Städtische Verkehrsbetriebe Bern (SVB), BERNMOBIL was part of the urban administration of Bern. The outsourcing was mainly due to the introduction of public tenders and the need for BERNMOBIL to improve its competitiveness.

BERNMOBIL operates public transport services by tram, bus and trolleybus in the city of Bern, the capital of Switzerland, and the surrounding suburban villages of Ostermundigen, Köniz and Bremgarten. Bern has approximately 130,000 inhabitants and including the surrounding villages BERNMOBIL serves approximately 190,000 people. Since 1999, BERNMOBIL is an independent company owned 100% by the city of Bern. Formerly called Städtische Verkehrsbetriebe Bern (SVB), BERNMOBIL was part of the urban administration of Bern. The outsourcing was mainly due to the introduction of public tenders and the need for BERNMOBIL to improve its competitiveness.

BERNMOBIL operates public transport services by tram, bus and trolleybus in the city of Bern, the capital of Switzerland, and the surrounding suburban villages of Ostermundigen, Köniz and Bremgarten. Bern has approximately 130,000 inhabitants and including the surrounding villages BERNMOBIL serves approximately 190,000 people. Since 1999, BERNMOBIL is an independent company owned 100% by the city of Bern. Formerly called Städtische Verkehrsbetriebe Bern (SVB), BERNMOBIL was part of the urban administration of Bern. The outsourcing was mainly due to the introduction of public tenders and the need for BERNMOBIL to improve its competitiveness.

Each day, approximately 100,000 commuters come to Bern for work or study purposes. 55% of them use public transport. Public transport accounts for 40% of all transport modes operated each day. In the city of Bern, 75.8% of the inhabitants own a season ticket for public transport.

BERNMOBIL operates three tramway lines with a length of 17.4km. They are the backbone of the public transport network in Bern. Three trolleybus lines (11.9km) and 12 bus lines (77.2km) complete our transport network.

86.5 million passengers used the trams and buses of BERNMOBIL in 2008. Statistically, every inhabitant of the agglomeration of Bern makes 455 trips a year with BERNMOBIL. Additionally, BERNMOBIL operates four regional bus lines outside of Bern (totalling 26.7km). The local bus service contains three lines in Belp (a village in the south of Bern) and the bus line connecting Belp-Rubigen-Münsingen-Konolfingen, situated in the rural area in the south of Bern. Around half a million passengers use these regional services.

Since the end of March 2009, BERNMOBIL has also been operating the airport bus from the main railway station in Bern to the airport Belpmoos in the south of Bern. The concession for this line was subject to a public tender by the regional public transport authority, the Kanton Bern.

At the end of 2010, BERNMOBIL will make a big step forward. The tramway network will be completely redesigned as two new tram lines will enter into service and the tramway line from Worb to Bern, actually operated by Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn (RBS), will be integrated into the tramway network of BERNMOBIL.

Vehicles

The tram fleet

In 2010, Siemens will deliver 21 new Siemens Combino Classic trams. They are 100% low floor, 41.5m long and have a capacity to hold 240 passengers. They will replace the 11 Be 8/8 Schindler trams and the seven trailers and will cover the additional need of 14 trams to serve the new two tram lines into the west of Bern.

Environmentally friendly bus fleet

In 2005, BERNMOBIL decided to change its bus strategy and to replace the diesel buses step-by-step by gas buses. In a first step, 32 articulated gas buses (Volvo) and 12 standard buses (Volvo) were acquired. Around 30 buses can be operated by biogas, which is produced by the local wastewater treatment plant. BERNMOBIL is currently in negotiation with the local energy supplier to get biogas for all gas buses.

Additionally, six MAN midi buses (9m long) are in service on the regional bus lines. At the end of 2009, BERNMOBIL will get another 24 articulated gas buses from Evo Bus/Mercedes. The CNG Citaro buses will replace the MAN and the van Hool articulated diesel buses. All CNG buses fulfil the EEV-standard. The remaining diesel bus fleet is equipped with particle filters to reduce the emission of particulate matters.

Access for handicapped people

By 2010, the entire BERNMOBIL bus and tram fleet will be 100% low floor. The access for handicapped people on all our vehicles will be guaranteed as they are equipped either with a mechanical or a mobile wheel chair ramp. On all stops a quadrant for blind people marks the stop of the first door of each vehicle. With Tram Bern West, the first stops with access to the vehicles at the same level will enter into service.

Dynamic passenger information

Since 1999, BERNMOBIL runs an Automatic Vehicle Location and Control System to monitor the vehicles on all lines and to provide dynamic passenger information in real-time. At 125 stops, the dynamic information system, so called Smart Infos, inform passengers on the next departures of the buses and trams in real-time. In case of disruptions and other perturbations on the BERNMOBIL network, passengers can be quickly informed about delays and changes of the bus and tram services. Acoustic and visual announcements of the next stops are provided within the vehicles, most of them equipped with flat screens. In the near future, BERNMOBIL will extend its services and provide information about the next connections on other trams and buses in the vehicles in real-time.

The schedule of the BERNMOBIL network is integrated in the nation-wide electronical timetable information system. A passenger can get all connections from a BERNMOBIL stop to another public transport station in Switzerland by internet. The same information can also be sent to a mobile phone via SMS or WAP.

Protection of the environment

BERNMOBIL pays special attention to the protection of the environment. A strategy to enhance the environmental performance of BERNMOBIL has been adopted and is implemented by measurable objectives.

The biogas bus project saves approximately 2,000 tonnes of CO2 annually and clearly reduces the pollutant emissions. Since the beginning of 2009, BERNMOBlL has purchased 100% of its electricity made by watercraft. The drivers are trained in environmentally friendly driving, called eco-drive. BERNMOBIL is the first public transport company in Switzerland with certified driving instructors in eco-drive. We expect to reduce the diesel consumption of the buses by this measure.

With special marketing campaigns focussed on the saving of CO2, we also try to attract more people using public transport and to contribute in this way to cleaner air, less noise and better quality of life in Bern.

An important path to enhance our environmental performance is the extension of our tramway network. By replacing the buses on line number 10 by trams, we will be able, for example, to reduce our CO2 emissions by up to 20% and of course also our pollutant emissions.

Future developments

Extension of the tramway network

The main development strategy is to extend our tramway network due to capacity problems on the main bus lines and to better connect the tramway network with the suburban railway network. This will help commuters to change from the suburban railway to the tram and help them to reach their destination quicker. Today, most of them have to undertake a deviation via the main station in the heart of the city. As the main station is overcrowded during peak times, this could also help to relieve its capacity problems.

Tram Bern West

The first step of the tramway extension is the Tram Bern West (7km). The tram is an important part of the urban development in the western district of Bern. The tramway will replace two existing bus lines (numbers 13 and 14) that have reached their capacity limits. One line leads from the inner city to the new shopping mall and leisure centre ‘Westside’ in the new quarter of Brünnen with more than 10,000 visitors daily. Beside the Westside centre there is housing currently under construction for approximately 2,000 people. The second line serves the district of Bümpliz. Both lines use the same tracks for around half of the route until the route is divided at the entering of Bümpliz in two arms. The Tram Bern West has been under construction since April 2008 and will enter into service on 12 December 2010. The schedule will have a 6-minute cadence on both lines. Costs for the infrastructure are estimated at CHF 152 millions.

Prolongation of tramway line number 9

Parallel to the Tram Bern West is the tramway line number 9 to be extended from Guisanplatz – terminal station today – to the railway station Wankdorf. The Wankdorf quarter is defined as a core area of development by the regional authority and has huge potential for additional working places. In this city district, the football stadium of Wankdorf, the ice hockey stadium and the exhibition centre of Bern are also located. The Wankdorf railway station will form an important hub for the public transport system in Bern in the future. The construction of the tramway route will be finished in spring 2012.

Tram Region Bern

The planning of the next step in the extension of the tramway network has recently started. The bus line number 10 from Köniz (south of Bern) to Ostermundigen (north east of Bern) transiting the city of Bern shall be replaced by trams. Buses on line number 10 operate today in a 3-minute cadence during peak times, but buses are still overcrowded, so there is an urgent need for more capacity. Two studies were undertaken to evaluate the appropriate means of transport for the suburban belt in the south and for Ostermundigen. Both studies resulted came to the same conclusion – only a tramway system will be able to provide the necessary transport capacity in the future. Even double articulated buses would not be able to relieve the transport problems on this line in the future.

The schedule for the planning of the tram is extremely dense. By the end of 2010, the alignment of the new tramway line must be fixed. From 2011 to 2014, the project must be refined so that the procedure for the construction permission can be started. The procedure will take approximately one year. The start of the construction phase is planned for 2014 and entry of service for 2017.

Under the same project, an extension of the tram line number 9 in the south of Bern to Kleinwabern is planned too. At the terminal station in Kleinwabern a new railway station will be built to connect the suburban railway to the tramway network in the southern outskirt of Bern. This area also has a huge potential for new housing.

New trolleybus line

Until now, the biggest hospital in Bern was badly connected to the public transport network. A new trolleybus line will bring the visitors from the main station directly to the main entrance of the hospital. As trolleybuses are very environmentally friendly and very quiet, they are much appreciated by the passengers. Beneath the tram, the trolleybus represents an appropriate transport mean to serve the inner city with its historic centre protected by the UNESCO cultural world heritage label. BENRMOBIL will not only maintain the trolleybus network but also looks for its further extension.

Challenges to come

Other than the tramway projects, BERNMOBIL is facing some other challenges. Due to the extension of the tram fleet, a new tram depot has to be constructed in the north east of Bern. It will provide enough space to house all new trams for the future tramway network. The depot will be ready in spring 2011.

Still to come this year, a public tender including two BERNMOBIL bus lines will be published by the regional authority. A year later, a second public tender will open competition for another bundle of bus lines in the north of Bern, including two BERNMOBIL bus lines.

The upcoming years will be very busy and challenging for BERNMOBIL, but they also offer many chances to further improve our services.

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