Strong wave of return trips from Pentecost vacationers expected

Created: 06/05/2022Updated: 06/05/2022 17:11

An ICE is at a train station.

© Martin Schutt/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Symbolbild

Finally out again: Many families used the long Pentecost weekend for a short vacation to the coast or for an excursion.

As expected, it was particularly crowded on the regional trains after the start of the 9-euro tickets.

The big end is threatening on Monday.

Cologne – At the end of the long Pentecost weekend, a strong return wave is expected this Monday in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The ADAC North Rhine warns of increased traffic jams on the motorways.

But the regional trains could also get very crowded again.

Many people used the train for trips and trips on Saturday and Sunday.

According to Deutsche Bahn, the regional trains, especially to tourist destinations, have been used very heavily, as expected.

In view of the 9-euro tickets for nationwide journeys in local and regional transport, many additional rail passengers were expected.

Pentecost is generally a busy weekend for travel.

This also applies to the large airports in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The ADAC North Rhine had already announced before the long Pentecost weekend that massive traffic disruptions were to be expected again on the NRW motorways on Monday afternoon.

According to the forecast, many short vacationers from the most populous federal state drove in the direction of the German North and Baltic Sea coasts and the Netherlands, who then want to go back home on Monday.

If the weather is nice, delays due to day trippers are also possible.

According to the ADAC overview, the frequent traffic jams in NRW include the A1 (Cologne - Dortmund - Osnabrück), A3 (Cologne - Oberhausen - Emmerich - Arnheim) and A4 (Greater Aachen/Cologne Ring area) as well as the A40 (Dortmund - Essen - Duisburg - Venlo) and the A46 (Düsseldorf - Wuppertal).

After a strong wave of outward journeys on Friday afternoon, the traffic situation on the motorways was much more relaxed on Saturday and Sunday.

On Pentecost Sunday, drivers were able to drive to their destinations without any additional delays due to traffic jams, with a few exceptions.

On the online overview of the Ministry of Transport, no large congestion areas were identified in addition to the well-known many construction sites.

On the traffic overview of the WDR on the Internet, zero kilometers of traffic jams were reported several times on Sunday.

On Saturday it was mostly values ​​between 30 and 40 kilometers.

According to calculations by the ADAC, the traffic jams and slow traffic on the motorways had added up to almost 350 kilometers on Friday afternoon because short vacationers and commuters were on the road.

On Pentecost Sunday, too, many people use the train for excursions and trips.

A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn reported on Sunday morning that there were as many passengers on the regional trains as on Whit Saturday.

As expected, the regional trains were used very heavily, especially to tourist destinations.

"We recommend our passengers to get information from the information media of the local transport associations or via the DB Navigator shortly before starting their journey," he emphasized.

For reasons of space, Deutsche Bahn asked travelers not to take bicycles on the trains if they were not absolutely necessary.

A signal box malfunction in the Hennef area affected regional traffic on the RE9, S12 and S19 lines on Sunday morning.

Trains were waiting at suitable stations, Deutsche Bahn NRW tweeted.

According to the company spokesman at the Berlin headquarters, the signal box malfunction was resolved after 30 minutes.

Long-distance traffic was not affected by this half-hour technical fault.

At the two largest NRW airports, Düsseldorf and Cologne/Bonn airports, there were again longer waiting times for air travelers at the security check on Friday and Saturday, as airport spokesmen explained.

Passengers in Düsseldorf had to wait up to 50 minutes, especially on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

On their websites, the airports warn passengers of increased waiting times and ask them to show up earlier than usual.

Cologne/Bonn Airport recommends being there at least two and a half hours before departure.

Among other things, Düsseldorf Airport also points out that some airlines open check-in for early flights at 3:00 a.m. or 3:30 a.m. during the summer season.

dpa