2023-07-14 07:36:23
When the weather is nice, the quiet Percha station on the Pustertalbahn comes alive like a city train station during rush hour. Hikers and day-trippers stream out of the electric multiple unit in droves. Just a few steps away, the gondolas of the Percha-Ried cable car are ready to board, up to the hiking trails of the Plan de Corones plateau, a good 1,300 meters higher. Not only in the hiking season, but also in the skiing winter, the demand for this comfortable way up the mountain, without having to drive and search for a parking space, is growing.
The combination of rail and cable car is just one highlight of local public transport in South Tyrol. In Italy’s northernmost province, one of the best sustainable local transport systems has emerged in recent years, which implements the “gentle mobility” that the Alpine Clubs have long demanded and can certainly compete with the model railway country Switzerland.
The nationwide offer with good connections and a uniform tariff system for the entire region enables South Tyrolean vacationers to travel comfortably without a car – a model project from which other vacation regions could learn.
Source: Infographic WORLD
The “Südtirolmobil-Line Network” is a nationwide transport association, with transitions to Switzerland, Austria and Trentino. It consists of four railway lines and 200 bus lines. There are also five cable cars, the funicular on rails from Kaltern up to the Mendola Pass and the Rittnerbahn, which has been serving the villages on the Renon, Bozen’s popular summer resort, on a narrow gauge for 125 years.
One advantage is the networking of train and bus
Railways are the backbone of the network: in addition to the international Brenner route from Munich to Verona, which touches on Brixen and Bozen in South Tyrol, there are the Bozen-Meran line, the Vinschgau railway from Meran up to Vinschgau, and the Pustertal railway from Brixen to San Candido and further to Lienz in Austrian East Tyrol. Mostly every half hour, modern, colorfully designed multiple units, each of which also has its own bicycle compartments, run there.
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By 2025, this rail network should function without changing trains across the province of Bozen and on to Austria, from the Mals terminus via Meran, Bozen and Brixen alternately in the direction of Brenner-Innsbruck or into the Pustertal to East Tyrol. The prerequisite for this is the electrification of the Vinschgaubahn along its 60 kilometers. It was shut down in the 1990s and put back into operation in 2005. For the current construction work, there are timetable restrictions and rail replacement services this year.
The Mendelbahn also belongs to the “Südtirolmobil- Liniennetz” transport association
Credit: pa/imageBROKER/allesfoto
One of the great advantages is the networking of rail and bus transport. From the train stations in the main towns, the bus lines branch out to lonely mountain villages and up to the Dolomite passes. Of particular interest to tourists is the Überetsch-Express, which runs all day as a regular bus service from Bozen to the wine-growing villages of Eppan and Caldaro and every hour to Tramin – ideal for excursions and sightseeing.
While in the cities there is usually a bus every 15 minutes, in the country the timetable mostly runs every half hour or hour. In the evenings and on weekends, however, traffic is significantly thinner. After all, a “Nightliner” offers bus connections to remote side valleys, especially on Saturday nights after midnight. This is practical, because the 0.5 per mille limit also applies to drivers in Italy.
South Tyrol’s tourism managers promise that the bus service will respond flexibly to a sudden increase in demand: if the mountain calls for more hikers than the bus can handle, additional buses will come, as well as in the event of bad weather or at festivals and sporting events. With the Südtirolmobil app, all timetables can be called up individually and on the go.
Many tourists use public transport for free
Tourists benefit in particular: the use of local transport is completely free for them if their accommodation – from a star hotel to a holiday apartment – automatically provides them with the Südtirol Guest Pass with the overnight stay. This is the case for around 60 percent of the accommodations, and according to Südtirol Information, 70 percent of all overnight guests are reached with this, and the trend is rising.
If the host does not offer the Südtirol Guest Pass, Mobilcards can be purchased with the full range of transport for one, three or seven days (20 euros for one day). All cards have variants with additional services such as free entry to museums or swimming pools.
Cyclists have their own compartments on the train
Those: IDM Südtirol/Matt Cherubino
The goal of the state government is good, cheap, area-wide local transport. Mobility provincial councilor Daniel Alfreider, quasi the state transport minister, says: “The mobility of South Tyrol will change. We want the most-used mode of transport to no longer be the car.” For a good decade now, the province with a good half a million inhabitants and up to 80,000 holidaymakers a day has been investing in public transport.
Getting to South Tyrol mostly by car
But there is still a lot to be done. According to studies, vacationers make up about 20 percent of traffic on the road. With almost 900 cars per 1000 inhabitants, the country on the Adige and Eisack also has a car density that is unique in Europe. There are often traffic jams and convoys on South Tyrol’s thoroughfares, parking spaces in the cities, at mountain railways and tourist attractions are scarce, depending on the weather.
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It gets even narrower in the Dolomites. As in previous years, road closures for private transport are planned for the high season of 2023, for example on the access road to Pragser Wildsee and in the Fischleintal in Sexten. Here you have to change to shuttle buses and buy tickets, which cost up to 16 euros depending on the route.
The journey to the Sella, Gardena and Pordoi passes is still free, but with the support of the government in Rome there are joint plans in the provinces of South Tyrol, Belluno and Trento for a “Dolomites Low Emission Zone” with stops or restrictions on car traffic. In South Tyrol, mountain passes are already being closed again and again on Sundays, which then belong to the cyclists. Further infrastructure measures are planned for the next ten years; the entire investment program is worth two billion euros.
When it comes to getting to the South Tyrolean holiday resorts, however, the car will remain number one. Although there are five daily Eurocity connections from Munich, “but they reach their capacity limits in the summer months,” regrets a spokeswoman for the South Tyrolean tourism organization. Her wish: “New direct connections from Germany, for example from Hamburg, Berlin or Frankfurt.” There are also no night trains: the privately operated holiday express, which connected Germany with Bolzano and Verona as a car train until 2022, will only go to Innsbruck this year.
More tips for holidays in South Tyrol
Bad luck for those who want to check in their luggage and take it to their holiday accommodation: Deutsche Bahn and its partner Hermes do not deliver to South Tyrol. Another provider charges at least 55 euros per suitcase and direction – that costs almost as much as a saver price ticket. Only one thing helps: travel with little luggage.
Central contact address on the Internet: suedtirol.info, also with information on the transport network, the Guest Pass and the various Mobilcards (day ticket 20 euros, three days 30 euros, seven days 45 euros, Museummobil Card three days 55 euros). There you will also find more detailed information on shuttle bus services when access roads are blocked (keyword: accessibility).
Free travel on vacation elsewhere too:
In two dozen German and Alpine holiday areas, vacationers can also often use buses and trains free of charge with guest cards or spa cards, with the possible uses and scope of the travel areas varying from region to region. The website fahrtziel-natur.de Deutsche Bahn offers a good overview of the various offers, from the Baltic Sea to the Eifel to the Allgäu and for the Swiss canton of Graubünden.
One of the outstanding offers in Germany is the Konus Black Forest guest card – a good 9,000 accommodation establishments issue it to holidaymakers who have free travel throughout the Black Forest and from Pforzheim to Basel (schwarzwald-tourismus.info/planen-buchen/konus-gaestekarte).
In Austria, the Burgenland Card offers many advantages. Overnight guests receive them automatically (around half of the hotels and guesthouses participate). In addition to free travel by bus and train throughout the state, entry to 285 attractions is free or reduced (burgenland.info/planen/vorteilskarten/burgenland-card).
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