From 18 October 2021, Stadtwerke Gießen will be expanding its local transport services with an additional bus route. Students in particular will benefit from the new service: The new express line 18 will provide a significantly faster connection between the railway station and the university's Philosophikum I and II buildings.
A new bus line will start operating in time for the start of the 2021/2022 winter semester. "With line 18, we are fulfilling the wish of many students for a direct connection between the railway station and Philosophikum I and II," explains Jens Schmidt, Commercial Director of Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG). The advantages of the additional service are obvious: because the express bus route relieves the pressure on line 10, it means more relaxed journeys for all passengers. It also offers students in particular a noticeable time saving. After all, the journey on line 18 from the station to the university now only takes 13 minutes - and back only 17 minutes thanks to a different route. With line 10, the journey takes 24 minutes. SWG achieves this acceleration by the buses only travelling to the important Berliner Platz transfer stop - similar to an ICE train. The express bus line skips all other stops on the route. "The new line 18 noticeably improves local transport services in Giessen," says a delighted Astrid Eibelshäuser, Chairwoman of the SWG Supervisory Board. And Lord Mayor Dietlind Grabe-Bolz adds: "Every optimisation of the connections makes bus travel more attractive. Consequently, this new line also contributes to our major goal: climate neutrality by 2035." It goes without saying that SWG subsidiary MIT.BUS will only use modern buses on route 18, as on all other routes, which are practicallyCO2-neutral thanks to bio-methane as a fuel.
As students in particular are likely to use the new route 18, it only runs on lecture days - i.e. from Monday to Friday - and runs every 60 minutes from around 8 am to 6 pm. Unfortunately, despite all their experience, the transport experts at SWG were unable to coordinate the timetable perfectly with that of the railway at all times. "The arrival times of the various trains that students typically use are simply too far apart. The same applies to the departures on the return journey," says Matthias Funk, Technical Director of SWG, explaining the reason. Nevertheless, the SWG planners have saved many students a lot of time - in addition to the faster journey, which makes commuting between the station and the Philosophikum more pleasant anyway. This is because the express buses depart from the station as far back as possible - so that they arrive in time for the start of lectures. "The coordination with the university timetable ensures that many students can take a later train and still arrive on time," says Gerda Weigel-Greilich, the department head responsible for public transport, explaining the advantage.
Start with diversions
However, various construction measures in Giessen mean that the new bus route will initially have to start with a detour. This is because the Berliner Platz Kongresshallenseite stop is expected to be closed until the timetable change on 12 December due to modernisation work. During this time, route 18 in the direction of Philosophikum will therefore initially travel via the Behördenzentrum stop and then return to its regular route via Ostanlage and Moltkestraße. Due to another construction site in Alter Steinbacher Weg, an additional diversion will be necessary from 9 October to 24 October via Schiffenberger Tal. There is no need for a diversion in the return direction, as the route already runs via Schiffenberger Tal towards Berliner Platz and the railway station.
Information on all lines and the current timetables can be found at www.rmv.de or at www.swg-verkehr.de/fahrplaene.
From Monday to Friday between 9 am and 6 pm, the staff at the RMV mobility centre will of course also be happy to help. Telephone: 0641 708-1400
E-mail: mobizentrale@stadtwerke-giessen.de