GERMANY: Two more routes are to be added to the München tram network under a package of public transport investment plans authorised by the city council on December 16.
Formal planning approval will now be sought from the Oberbayern regional government for the Westtangente and the Münchener Norden routes while further planning work for three more segments of the network has been agreed.
Construction of the Westtangente serving five districts of the city is due to start in 2023. Running on reserved track from Aidenbachstraße on U-Bahn Line 3 to Romanplatz, the 8∙25 km route with 16 intermediate stops will be built in two stages. The northern section from Waldfriedhof to Romanplatz is expected to open in 2025-26 and the southern section will follow by 2027. The line will link three U-Bahn lines and six S-Bahn routes.
The 5∙7 km Münchener Norden project will extend Line 23 by 3∙5 km from Schwabing Nord to Kieferngarten on Line U6 in order to serve the new Bayernkaserne district, with opening planned for 2027. This line will have 12 stops. A further section that will operate as Line 24 will run from Am Hart to Kieferngarten, sharing tracks with Line 23 between Werner Egk-Bogen and Kieferngarten.
Plans for the 7∙5 km Ramersdorf – Neuperlach tram route from Ostbahnhof to Neuperlach Zentrum to replace the busy Metrobus route 55 will be taken a stage further, as will planning for the 7 km Tram Y-Nord scheme from Hauptbahnhof to the northern part of the city. Planning will also continue on the Wasserburger Landstraße scheme for a tram route from Kreillerstraße to Haar.
In January 2022 the city council is due to decide on six further tram projects in the city’s strategic public transport plan. These are:
- the Nordtangente from Elisabethplatz to Tivolistraße which controversially runs through the Englischer Garten;
- a 1 km extension from Regina-Ullmannstraße to Johanneskirchen;
- an extension of Line 19 from Berg am Laim to Daglfing;
- the 7∙5 km Südtangente from Waldfriedhof to Ostbahnhof;
- the Parkstadt Solln scheme forming an extension of the Westtangente between 2∙5 km and 4 km long;
- an extension from Amalienburgstraße to Freiham that would link four S-Bahn routes.
During January a decision will also be taken in a plenary session of the city council on funding worth €530∙8m that will cover much of the planned public transport construction programme.
In order to accelerate the construction programme and to ensure co-ordination between the various organisations involved a task force will be set up under Mayor Dieter Reiter. Commenting on the plans, Reiter said that ‘above all we need to move quickly to expand our local public transport. The advantage of trams is obvious ― they are more efficient than buses and cheaper than building an U-Bahn.’
