Berlin – More and more people are becoming infected with omicron, more and more people have to be quarantined. In view of the development of the corona pandemic, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) feel compelled to further restrict what they offer to passengers. On Thursday, the state company announced that the timetable would have to be thinned out to 19 more lines from Monday. For the first time, the underground and trams are also affected by cuts. Bus routes are being shortened for the first time. Omikron is making itself felt more and more in this part of the critical infrastructure – further escalation cannot be ruled out. “The situation is tense,” said Jeremy Arndt, the responsible secretary of the Verdi union.
In the case of the subway, the offer will be cut back on weekdays, i.e. Monday to Friday, from January 24th, it said. The BVG announced that a five-minute interval will be introduced during the day on the U2 line between Pankow and Theodor-Heuss-Platz and the U8 between Hermannstraße and Paracelsus-Bad. On the U6 and U9 lines, the underground trains will also run every five minutes during the day. The U5 runs every five minutes in the morning and afternoon. “At the moment, there are sometimes somewhat denser clocks on these lines during the rush hours in the morning and afternoon,” said the BVG. “With the subway, passengers have to wait a maximum of one minute longer for their train than before after the adjustment.”
On several routes, a bus only comes every 20 minutes
A ten-minute interval applies from Monday on the section of the U2 subway line between Theodor-Heuss-Platz and on the entire route on the U4 and U8 between Paracelsus-Bad and Wittenau.
As of Monday, two of the 22 lines on the Berlin tram will be affected by restrictions. The M5 and M6 will run every 10 minutes throughout the day from Monday, according to the BVG.
In bus traffic, the number of lines with restrictions will increase from ten to 21 on January 24. On Wednesday, the BVG had already reduced bus lines M27, M43, M44, M46, X11, X21, X83, 100, 181 and 245 – mostly to a ten-minute cycle, sometimes only to one operation every 20 minutes. The company has now announced that eleven more routes will be added next Monday. Again almost exclusively routes in the west of Berlin are affected.
On the lines M29, M36, M45, M82 and X33, the buses will then only run every ten minutes along the entire route, according to the BVG. The lines X7, 140 and 247 are even thinned out to a 20-minute cycle. The X76 express bus line will be shortened to the section between the Alt-Mariendorf underground station and Nahariyastraße, where there is only one trip every 20 minutes. The section between Alt-Mariendorf and Walther-Schreiber-Platz is no longer served by this bus line. The BVG refers passengers to the M76 bus, which travels the same route.
BVG reduces benefits by almost five percent
Bus line 101 will also be thinned out and shortened to a 20-minute cycle. From Monday there will only be operation between the Turmstraße and Breitenbachplatz underground stations, the following section to Sachtlebenstraße in Zehlendorf will no longer be used by the 101 bus. Line 172 will also be cut, according to the BVG. From Monday to Friday, the buses run between the Lichtenrade S-Bahn station and the health center – every 20 minutes, sometimes with reinforcements every ten minutes. On Saturdays, line 172 is limited to the section between the Rudow underground station and the health center. A 20-minute cycle is offered.
The company said that bus routes that are currently less frequented are affected. The timetables will be adjusted primarily for connections on which several lines run parallel in sections and therefore a “solid cycle” is maintained. All sections and stops in the Berlin bus network will continue to be served. The metro lines run at least every 10 minutes. In total, the BVG has more than 150 daily bus routes.
The weekly transport performance will be adjusted by 4.8 percent, according to the BVG. More than 95 percent of trips are not affected. The entire network will continue to be served reliably.
“Berlin can rely on the BVG,” said Rolf Erfurt, director of operations. “This is especially true now that we are all going through a difficult phase of the corona pandemic. With the adjustments, we are ensuring that there will continue to be reliable and efficient bus and train traffic throughout the city in the coming weeks. The changes affect only 4.8 percent of trips. Wherever possible, we use vehicles that are as large as possible.”