Is that it for the cable car? Expert advises against plans

Was that about the cable car in the Munich district?

Experts advise the district councils not to use the means of transport at lofty heights.

The reason: the cable car would be too slow.

District

- Great disillusionment among the district councils: New transport systems in the district have little prospect of subsidies from the federal and state levels. Cable cars, trams, underground trains and express buses score negatively in the cost-benefit analysis; full funding is not expected. The urban cable car is not convincing either: it is too slow. The experts' calculations are most likely to speak for express buses with an acceleration lane and priority at traffic hubs. "That would be the most economical," said surveyor Bernd Kollberg.

The district has been concerned with the question of how to relieve traffic routes since 2014 and focuses on tangential connections that could link the stations in the star-shaped rail network.

Because there is hardly any space for rails in the densely populated Munich area, cable cars came into focus as a space-saving and efficient alternative with the aim of making public transport more attractive and saving as many kilometers by car as possible.

The largest study of its kind

On behalf of the district, the experts analyzed 23 possible connections and compared the use of the underground, tram, cable car and express bus on all routes. "It is the largest study of its kind in the recent past of the Federal Republic", it says from the district office, other municipalities could also build on the pilot project.

The planners used two examples to highlight opportunities and limits: A three-way cable car from the Messestadt Ost subway to Räterstrasse in Heimstetten would take 14 minutes and travel to Heimstetten at 20 kilometers per hour.

The experts are reckoning with 66 million euros for the construction costs of the five-kilometer route.

They put the operating costs for electricity, personnel and maintenance at a horrific 1.57 million a year.

"And then we have the issue of urban integration and the passage of properties," says Kollberg.

Subway extension devours 536.9 million euros

In comparison, an extension of the subway from the trade fair city via Feldkirchen to Räterstraße in Heimstetten with 5.8 kilometers and two stations would cost 536.9 million euros. At 773,000 euros per year, the operating costs are half as high as those of the cable car. A lot more people could be transported, the journey time would only be six minutes - many advantages if it weren't for the high construction costs.

The conclusion is also negative for a tram in the north.

The construction of a 15.3 kilometer long tram route with 15 stations from Lohhof via Unterschleißheim to Hochbrück across the Isar to Ismaning would cost 204.2 million euros.

The journey time would be 31 minutes, the operating costs would be 773,000 euros per year.

Kollberg has calculated a cost-benefit indicator of 0.06 for this variant - far from the threshold value of 1.0 above which the federal and state governments bear all costs.

Nevertheless, Kollberg advised: "The areas should be kept free so that they can be used for local public transport systems in five to ten years."

"With the best will in the world, I can't imagine that ..."

“Sobering,” said District Administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU) on the results.

Markus Büchler (Greens) interjected that the criteria for funding should soon be made easier.

“I don't find the Tram-Nord that illusory,” he said.

And Karin Schuster (ÖDP) emphasized: "The need is huge." But Kollberg made it clear: "With the best will in the world, I cannot imagine that we will get in the direction of funding."

Nonetheless, Göbel remarked: “Who knows whether the subway that is in operation today would ever have been built under these calculations.” He pleaded: “We're trying to go two ways.

In the short term, the fast buses are the solution. ”In the long term, the task is to“ think boldly into the future and present a new backbone for mobility ”, even if the costs for the district are currently“ almost impossible to shoulder ”.

You can find more news from the Munich district here.