4 November 2024
Thun and Steffisburg parliaments decide on credit for bus route experiment
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The city of Thun and the municipality of Steffisburg want to carry out a test operation for a new tangential bus route between Thun and Steffisburg together with the canton of Bern from December 2025. On November 21st, the Thun city council approved two commitment loans totaling 2.118 million francs for operations and stop infrastructure. On November 29th, the matter will be discussed in the Steffisburg Municipal Council.
The urban bus network in Thun and the surrounding area is primarily directed radially towards Thun train station. This means that all bus routes go via Thun train station. There is currently no tangential line connecting the outer urban areas. Tangential lines enable attractive, direct connections between urban districts without the need to change at a central junction. With the Siegenthalergut, the Thun South leisure and sports cluster and the cantonal ESP Thun North as well as the development area Room 5 (Steffisburg train station and the new Schönau school, culture and sports facility), important development areas are located in the area of the planned route. “The new tangential line is intended to connect these areas with each other and thereby relieve Thun train station of through traffic,” says Andrea de Meuron, local councilor and head of Finance, Resources and Environment. The local council is therefore submitting two commitment loans to the Thun city council totaling 2.118 million francs for the implementation of the trial operation and the planning and implementation of the temporary stop infrastructure.
Study shows potential
The idea of a tangential bus connection between Thun and Steffisburg was first brought up in 2011 as part of the Thun agglomeration’s public transport strategy of the Oberland West Regional Transport Conference (RVK 5). As a result, in 2012 the tangential line was included in the regional overall transport and settlement concept (RGSK), which is binding for the authorities, or in the first generation agglomeration program (AP). Against this background, RVK 5, together with the city of Thun and the municipality of Steffisburg, carried out a study between 2019 and 2020 to estimate the demand potential and the economic viability of a tangential bus route from Steffisburg via the ESP Thun Nord area to the Oberland center. The study came to the conclusion that with the expected developments in the catchment area of the tangential line, the minimum requirements for demand and economic viability can be achieved as early as 2025. With the Thun Nord S-Bahn stop scheduled to go into operation by 2035 at the latest, a strong jump in demand on the tangential line can also be expected, which will create the conditions for a 15-minute frequency or an extension of the tangential line towards Thun Neufeld-Strandbad.
Tangential line initially as an experimental operation
Before the tangential line can be included in the basic offer, the new offer must first be introduced as a three-year trial operation in accordance with the Offer Ordinance of the Canton of Bern (AGV). During this time, proof must be provided that the new offer is appropriate, meets the development principles, does not compete with existing lines and meets the minimum requirements according to the AGV. The trial operation of the Thun-Steffisburg tangential line is scheduled to be introduced on December 15, 2025 following the 2026 timetable change and will last until December 2028. If the expectations are met, the canton can, at the request of RVK 5 and subject to the approval of the Grand Council, open the new bus line via Included in the cantonal basic offer in 2029.
The canton and municipalities share the costs
When carrying out experimental operations, the canton usually contributes a third of the operating costs. The remaining costs must be borne by the municipalities. On August 28, 2024, the canton guaranteed a cost share of EUR 985,000 by means of a government council resolution (cf. Short message dated August 29th). The city of Thun and the municipality of Steffisburg each share 50 percent of the remaining costs. The municipality of Steffisburg will discuss the lending business in the large municipal council on November 29, 2024.
New stop infrastructure in 2025
Provisional stop infrastructure is being built for trial operations. Three temporary stops (“Thun, Allmendhof”, “Thun, Burger Allmend” and “Thun, Burgerallee”) will be created in the municipality of Thun. In Steffisburg the stops are “Zulgstrasse”, “Altelsstrasse”, “Schönaubrücke” and “Zulgbrücke”. If the test operation is successful and the bus route is included in the basic service, the temporary stops will be converted into permanent ones. The construction of the final stops will be coordinated with the planned renovation of Burgerstrasse.
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