Improvements to the service, coronavirus and various construction measures - the transport planners at Stadtwerke Gießen took several different aspects into account for the upcoming timetable change.
When it comes to local transport, Stadtwerke Giessen (SWG) has a clear goal: to transport its passengers safely, punctually and comfortably. It was precisely this approach that presented the SWG transport planners with a real challenge this autumn. After all, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and various long-term or completed construction measures had to be taken into account while at the same time improving the service. All timetable adjustments will apply from 13 December 2020.
The city buses and corona
Fewer people per bus reduces the risk of infection. That's why SWG is running extra trips on school days until the 2021 Easter holidays - i.e. Monday to Friday on the sections of the city bus routes. These journeys usually start a few minutes before the regular journeys.
Unfortunately, coronavirus has also led to restrictions in local transport. As an exception, SWG will not be able to offer the New Year's Eve shuttles that usually run at the turn of the year this winter. The Saturn and Venus night bus services will also be cancelled until further notice. SWG will of course keep you informed of the latest developments.
In addition, the virus is also resulting in low capacity utilisation of journeys that only take place on lecture days. For this reason, some journeys on lines 10 and 801 will be cancelled until further notice.
Line 10:
The journeys from 13:20 at hourly intervals until 19:20 from the station stop in the direction of Philosophikum and in the opposite direction from 13:48 at hourly intervals until 19:48 will not take place.
Line 801:
On this line, the short journeys from the Philosophikum stop to Oswaldsgarten will not run at 15:50, 16:20, 17:20, 17:50, 18:20, 18:50, 19:20 and 19:50.
Construction sites that have an impact
Due to the construction work at the Kongresshalle, the Berliner Platz stop in the direction of Ludwigsplatz is not available. Alternatively, the affected lines will serve the stations Behördenzentrum or Stadttheater.
As the full closure of Rathenaustraße has been lifted with the progress of the construction work, lines 10, 801 and 802 will return here and serve the new Philosophikum stop. The station is equipped with a screen that displays current data from the dynamic passenger information system - such as exact departure times. This change affects lines 801, 802 and 10, for the latter of which the replacement stop Philosophikum II at the end of Karl-Glöckner-Straße is no longer necessary and will therefore no longer be served.
Better connections
As part of a timetable change, SWG is optimising its services by adapting them to actual demand and taking transfer times into account. Specifically, this affects lines 800, 801 and 802.
Line 800: Round trip Giessen - Launsbach - Wißmar-Krofdorf - Gleiberg - Giessen
On school days, the journey that originally started at 07:02 in Krofdorf-Gleiberg at the Hauptstraße/ Inselstraße station will in future start two minutes earlier - i.e. at 07:00. In addition, the line no longer ends at Marktplatz, but at Berliner Platz.
Line 801: Wißmar - Pistorstraße
Line 801 will once again run from Ostschule via the Philosophikum and Siemensstraße stops to the terminus at Pistorstraße.
Line 802: Krofdorf-Gleiberg - Philosophikum
As already mentioned, line 802 will once again run to the Philosophikum terminus and serve the Siemensstraße stop on the way there. However, the construction work at the Kongresshalle makes it necessary for journeys to start two minutes later at the Liebigstraße stop in the direction of Philosophikum. The usual 05:07 journey from Westschule in the same direction will start four minutes earlier, i.e. at 05:03. The 07:46 journey on school days from Marktplatz to Westschule will be brought forward by three minutes to 07:43. If you take the bus from Philosophikum at 19:33 on Mondays to Fridays, you can now get to Oswaldsgarten via Berliner Platz. SWG is also adding two more journeys to the service on these days: at 20:33 and 21:33 from the Philosophikum bus stop to Oswaldsgarten.
Up-to-date information is available as usual at www.swg-verkehr.de or at www.rmv.de