Norderstedt: New bus line – electric shuttles commute on Glashütter Damm

Norderstedt. With the timetable change in the December 2024 becomes a blind spot in the public transport supply in Norderstedt eliminated: Small electric buses are to roll over the Glashütter Damm at regular intervals. The city of Norderstedt has submitted a corresponding application district council decided unanimously. Because the district will bear the annual costs of around one million euros.

The new bus line along Glashütter Damm is to run from Mittelstrasse in Glashütte and from the central bus station there via Glashütter Damm to the final stop at Garstedt underground station. In accordance with the usual 20-minute cycle in Norderstedt, Monday to Friday between 5 a.m. and midnight, Saturday between 7 a.m. and midnight and Sunday between 9 a.m. and midnight.

Norderstedt: New bus line – electric shuttles commute on Glashütter Damm

Since standard regular buses cannot pass each other on the narrow Glashütter Damm, small battery-powered electric buses ten meters long and 2.35 meters wide are to be used, which can transport a maximum of 35 people.

In his application for the new bus line, Mario Kröska, traffic planner for the city of Norderstedt, talks about the “relatively large gap in service, supply and supply” that has existed on Glashütter Damm for years in terms of public transport. The Glashütte district has developed strongly towards the north, more and more people are living here, and there is a “public transport undersupply” for 2,500 existing residential units.

“Public transport undersupply” on Glashütter Damm for years

In the area of ​​the western Glashütter Damm there were no further public transport stops between the only two existing bus stops “Heidehof” and Glashütter Damm along a distance of about 2.5 kilometers.

Solutions for a better offer passed. Initially, the expansion of the Glashütter Damm was considered so that regular buses could drive here. But that would have cost the dense avenue trees, which are ecologically worthy of protection. This also prevents sufficiently wide cycle paths and footpaths from being built there.

The idea of ​​having autonomous electric buses commute on Glashütter Damm in 24-hour continuous operation was then innovative. In coordination with politicians and with the involvement of external experts, this concept was extensively examined – and rejected.

Autonomous bus transport project rejected – too expensive, too impractical

According to Kröska, all investigation and result reports show that autonomously driving shuttle cabin buses are currently not an alternative to diesel or electrically operated standard bus services. “On the one hand, this is due to the low passenger capacity – a maximum of 6 people – and on the other hand to the slow travel speed, on average 8 to 10 km/h),” says Kröska.

In addition, these buses did not run in heavy rain or storms. As a result, a passenger would have to drive an average of 20 minutes along the Glashütter Dam to initially only get to the next bus transfer point. “As a result, no acceptance of the environmental network is to be expected and therefore no traffic turnaround,” writes Kröska.

Destination U-Bahn Garstedt and Herold-Center highly attractive

According to local transport planner Claudius Mozer from the Südwestholstein ÖPNV-Verwaltungsgemeinschaft for the districts of Dithmarschen, Pinneberg and Segeberg (SVG), there are two options for the possible route via Glashütter Damm: Firstly, to Garstedt and to the Herold-Center or to the Ochsenzoll subway station.

If the trip went to Ochsenzoll, the city of Hamburg would come on the bus – as the financier of the small section of the line on Hamburg land, which would mean around 70,000 euros a year. The remaining 850,000 euros would be taken over by the district of Segeberg.

Norderstedt: Delivery problems with e-buses delay introduction

That’s why Mozer finds the variant “Garstedt” more advantageous. “Because there, with the Herold Center, a location with an overall greater attractiveness is reached directly and therefore a higher transport benefit and market success of the new bus line is expected.” And you don’t have to ask Hamburg for money as well.

The fact that the line is realistically only possible when the timetable changes in December 2024 is due to supply chain problems. Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein GmbH (VHH), the operational contractual partner for public transport in Norderstedt, pointed out that the electric minibuses would have to be ordered now if you wanted to start driving in just under two years. Therefore, the district council had to make the decision now.

Sunday, April 9th, 2023, 3:51 p.m

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