"The passengers are back": Hochbahn presents figures

Created: 06/16/2022Updated: 06/16/2022, 16:08

The U3 subway arrives at the Landungsbrücken subway station in the Port of Hamburg.

© Marcus Brandt/dpa

Local public transport has suffered in the past Corona years.

Lower passenger numbers caused falling sales, also at Hamburger Hochbahn.

But that seems to be over now - despite the fact that the number of infections is increasing again.

Hamburg - For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of passengers in public transport in Hamburg is back to the pre-corona level.

"The passengers are back," said Transport Senator Anjes Tjarks (Greens) on Thursday when presenting the annual figures for Hochbahn AG, whose supervisory board he is also chairman of.

In the past week, the number of passengers has increased to the value of June 2019.

"And that, although we have a not insignificant incidence in Germany and in Hamburg."

The recent very steep increase in passenger numbers is also likely to be related to the 9-euro ticket.

According to the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV), more than 820,000 of these have been sold in the Hanseatic city so far.

In addition, there are 680,000 subscription cardholders whose contracts were also changed to nine euros a month by August.

"For many, the 9-euro ticket can be the start of the transition and we consider the measure to be an important signal to strengthen sustainable mobility in a targeted manner, especially after the pandemic, and at the same time to relieve people financially in difficult times," said Tjarks.

Now it is important to use this boost to convince even more people of the offers of public transport.

"I believe that we can be sure that something will stick."

After the Corona slump in 2020, Hochbahn sales stabilized last year at 438.9 million euros, but were still four percent below the previous year.

On the one hand, this was due to the fact that 2021 was a complete Corona year, while the pandemic was only reflected in the figures in the spring of the previous year, said CFO Helmut König.

On the other hand, you have invested heavily.

"There, with 328 million euros, we picked up on the old days and (...) achieved a new investment record."

Almost half of this was spent on new buses and trains alone.

With 48 million euros, the emission-free e-bus fleet has now been expanded to 121 vehicles.

Another 27 DT5 subway cars were purchased for 111 million euros.

The Hochbahn now has a total of 155 of these modern vehicles.

The goal during the pandemic was also to “strengthen public transport as the backbone of the mobility turnaround and sustainable mobility and to implement the Hamburg cycle in the future,” said Tjarks.

In return, Hochbahn maintained almost all of its operations in 2021 and even expanded its offerings.

The losses caused by Corona were offset with 101.9 million euros from the nationwide rescue package - half of which was borne by the city.

The amount that the city had to spend directly to compensate for the losses rose to a record level of 150.5 million euros, but according to Tjarks it was still on the development path planned for the "Hamburg-Tact".

It stipulates that from 2030 everyone in Hamburg will be able to use the bus, subway and suburban train or other mobility services within five minutes.

With the 150 million euros, “many people have been able to have reliable, climate-friendly, comfortable and fast mobility even during the pandemic,” said Tjarks.

That was not only a clear commitment to the mobility revolution, but also an important investment in sustainability and the future.”

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Public transport managed the corona crisis successfully, Falk stated.

"It is also the key to the challenge of the coming years, because only by expanding sustainable mobility offers can we effectively counteract climate change." dpa