On Sunday 12 December 2010, the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) will carry out its annual timetable change. There will also be adjustments to the fares. As usual, these also affect the city bus services in Giessen organised by SWG and its local transport subsidiary MIT.BUS. The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund is increasing fares by an average of 1.7 per cent. This is the smallest increase in ten years. In addition, many ticket prices remain stable, such as single tickets in price levels 1 to 3 and the HessenTicket.
The new prices in detail
The following fares will apply for the city of Giessen and the municipality of Heuchelheim from the timetable change: The monthly ticket now costs €35.20 instead of €34.60 as before. In future, monthly tickets for schoolchildren and trainees will be available for 28.70 euros, and the 9 o'clock ticket will be slightly more expensive from 29.40 euros to 29.90 euros. For Gießenpass tickets, the price of the monthly pass will rise from 18.10 euros to 18.40 euros. After the adjustment, pupils and trainees will pay 14.40 euros instead of 14.10 euros for their monthly ticket.
The annual pass for frequent travellers and the CleverCard for schoolchildren and trainees will remain inexpensive. With the annual travelcard, you can still travel for twelve months and only pay for ten months. The same applies to the CleverCard. The rule here is: travel for twelve months and pay for eight months. In future, the annual pass will cost 345 euros for cash payment and 352 euros for monthly direct debit. In future, the CleverCard will cost 243 euros for cash payment and 31 euros for monthly direct debit.
The new timetable
The changes to the timetable for Stadtwerke Giessen's city buses are minor and only affect so-called "reinforcement journeys" during times of high passenger volumes. There are no changes to the regular timetable. The changes at a glance:
Line 1 in the Grünberger Straße area and line 7 from Philosophenwald to Berliner Platz:
The services between the US depot and Studentendorf in the direction of Berliner Platz and Max-Reger-Straße have been reorganised for the morning rush hours. With departures at 7:18 from the US depot and 7:23 from Studentendorf, the number of journeys on the Heyerweg to Berliner Platz section will be significantly increased. The Berliner Platz to Max-Reger-Straße section will also have additional transport capacity with a further additional journey from Berliner Platz at 7.33 am. At the same time, direct journeys from the Grünberger Straße area to Philosophenwald will be cancelled. From Philosophenwald, the regular service vehicles will continue to be relieved by an additional journey departing at 7.23 am.
Line 1 from the direction of Lützellinden:
The departure times from the terminus at 5.06 am, 6.17 am and 7.06 am have been brought forward by five minutes. This change is Stadtwerke's response to customer requests. In particular, the Ostschule can now always be reached on time with the 7:01 bus from Lützellinden.
Line 10 and school bus to the August Hermann Franke School from the railway station:
Due to under-utilisation of the bus to August-Hermann-Franke-Schule, the direct journey at 7:35 a.m. from the station to the school will be cancelled. In future, Stadtwerke will also operate the corresponding vehicle on route 10 from the railway station in the direction of Rathenaustraße, departing at 7.30 am.
Lines 801 and 802 from Oswaldsgarten to Rathenaustraße:
In order to ensure that passengers travelling from Marburg can continue their journey at the Oswaldsgarten stop, an additional departure of line 802 at Oswaldsgarten at 7.36 a.m. has been added to the timetable.
Line 802 from Krofdorf-Gleiberg:
The departure from the "Am Wingert" stop at 7.08 am is now five minutes earlier, i.e. at 7.03 am. This makes it possible to increase transport capacity by using an articulated bus.
Departure of lines 801 and 802 at Berliner Platz in the evening:
As with daytime services, from the timetable change the buses in the direction of Weststadt and Wettenberg will depart from the Rathaus side. This is also where the buses will arrive in future. This eliminates the turning journey from Berliner Platz on the Kongresshalle side via Bismarckstraße to Marktplatz. The departure time remains unchanged. Passengers should, however, note the change of direction at Berliner Platz.
Information on the timetable
Passengers can obtain information on the changes to the timetable and fares by calling the SWG service number 0641 708-1400 or on the Internet at www.stadtwerke-giessen.de or www.rmv.de. The new timetable book is now available at the mobility centre in the infoZentrum on Giessen's market square. Opening hours of the mobility centre: Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.