AfD plans cable car through Berlin: News from the transport system

AfD plans cable car through Berlin: News from the transport system

In Vienna, a closed conference of the Berlin AfD parliamentary group recently took place, which discussed plans for the construction of a new cable car in Berlin. The proposed route is scheduled to run from Wasserstadt Spandau to the Schumacher district on the site of the former Tegel airport. The AfD expert Rolf Wiedenhaupt described this connection as very useful, since existing local public transport (public transport) was inadequate in this area. Wiedenhaupt also emphasized the advantages of the cable car: it is space -saving, causing low impairments of forest and allotments and is barrier -free.

The AfD has therefore asked the Senate to commission a feasibility study for the project. This is not the first time that such plans come up. In the past, parties such as the SPD, CDU and Left have proposed similar cable car projects, but they have never been realized. The skepticism of Senate Transport Management compared to cable car projects is not new. In the past surveys, the BVG rejected the participation because it was already busy with the existing means of transport. In addition, the IGA cable car, which cost 14 million euros, already indicated that the city does not want to pay for further projects in the future.

The Senate and the feasibility study

Regardless of the plans of the AfD, the Berlin transport administration has so far neither advertised the feasibility study for cable cars. This information was recently requested by FDP MP Felix Reifschneider. The traffic administration's response says that the update of the local transport plan for the period 2024-2028 is currently being prioritized. Development tendencies at the federal level are to be waited for, in particular an upcoming study by the Federal Ministry of Transport to integrate urban cable car projects.

Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing sees cable cars as a reliable and sustainable alternative transportation. Currently in Germany there are only cable cars in Berlin, Koblenz and Cologne, which are not integrated into the public transport network. The BVG and the transport administration still reject the integration of the existing Marzahner cable car into local transport. A contract between the gardens of the world and the operator Leitner has recently been extended by ten years. VBB tickets do not apply.

cable cars as part of local transport

The integration of urban cable cars in public transport could be promoted by a study that the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure has commissioned. The aim of this study is to create a guideline for the implementation of cable cars in public transport, which should be available within two years. Experimental approaches show that cable cars could be a promising supplement to existing local transport, especially in urban metropolitan areas.

A challenge for the implementation of such projects remains the general resistance phenomenon "Not-in-my-backyard syndrome". At the same time, the example of the cable car in Koblenz shows that the acceptance of cable cars increases when they are part of the local transport system. However, as the current developments in Berlin show, the various political parties, including the Greens, are skeptical about cable cars. The ongoing groans groan a clear request for action for the Berlin Senate, who has to decide how the future of urban mobility is designed in the capital.

Berliner Kurier reports on the plans of the AfD, while Tagesspiegel The current contract inquiries from the Senate discussed. A detailed study on the integration of urban cable cars can be read in the Nahverkehrpraxis