Before and after the carnival parade next Sunday, Stadtwerke Gießen will be deploying more spacious articulated buses on some routes - three additional buses are available as a reserve. During the parade, SWG will have to temporarily interrupt regular services on some routes.
The highlight of the fifth season in Giessen is coming up on Sunday, 2 March - the big parade through the city centre. Thousands of people in fancy dress will celebrate together along the streets and greet the crews of the passing floats with a loud "Helau". While the carnival procession rolls slowly, some city bus routes have to pause or take an alternative route. Between 13:30 and 17:30, there are therefore likely to be considerable disruptions to regular services. Among other things, all buses will not run via the Marktplatz stop during this period.
Before the parade, however, it will still be very busy there. Stadtwerke Gießen is expecting many people from Gießen and the surrounding area to travel to the city centre by public transport.
"As in previous years, we will be using more spacious articulated buses for lines 1, 2 and 5," promises Anne Müller-Kreutz, Head of Local Transport Services at Stadtwerke Gießen (SWG). She also announces: "From 14:30, we will have three more buses in reserve that we can deploy immediately if necessary."
Interruptions during the move
From 13:30 to around 16:00, there will be interruptions on some of the city bus routes, with SWG rerouting some routes. The buses will stop at the following locations and stops.
From 1.30 p.m. to around 4.00 p.m., there will be interruptions on some of the city bus routes and SWG will reroute some lines. The buses will be travelling to the following locations and stops.
Line 1: From Lützellinden via Allendorf and Kleinlinden the buses will run to the Bahnhof stop, from Rödgen to the Waldstadion stop.
Line 3: From the Schwarzacker stop, the buses run to the Schiffenberger Weg stop and from the Friedhof stop via Ostanlage to the Berliner Platz stop.
Line 5: From the direction of Wieseck, the buses will travel via Nordanlage, Westanlage and Bahnhofstraße to the Bahnhof stop.
Line 801 and 802: From Wettenberg, the trolleys will run via the Weststadt, Nordanlage and Ostanlage stops to the Berliner Platz stop.
Line 12: From Sandfeldschule, the buses will travel via Ostanlage to Berliner Platz.
Line 11: From Wetzlar via Dutenhofen, Allendorf, Lützellinden and Kleinlinden, the buses run to the Bahnhof stop.
Line 24: From Wetzlar via Lahnau, Heuchelheim via Westanlage and Bahnhofstraße, the buses run to the Bahnhof stop.
Lines 2, 6 and 7 will stop running completely between around 13:30 and 16:00.
Home by bus
After the parade, there will still be clean-up work to do at Marktplatz, which is why all buses are not expected to be able to return to the bus stop until around 17:50. However, passengers travelling on lines 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 801, 802 and line 11 of the Wetzlar public transport company will be able to board the bus at the Berliner Platz stop. Line 5 also stops regularly at Bahnhof and Steinstraße. Line 24 of the ESE transport company will stop at the stations Bahnhof, Mühlstraße and Schützenstraße until around 17:50. Line 11 of the Wetzlarer Verkehrsbetriebe is expected to stop at Berliner Platz and Johanneskirche again from 16:00.
Anne Müller-Kreutz has a tip for all carnival fans: "If you are travelling to Giessen on the city bus with up to five people, you can travel cheaper if you buy a group day ticket. It costs 7 euros for the city trip - a single journey for adults costs 2.10 euros."
All information on timetable changes is also available at the Stadtwerke Gießen customer centre on Marktplatz, by phone on 0641 708-1400 or online at www.stadtwerke-giessen.de