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Construction track drama: Jena is struggling with costs and full closures!
Jena is planning extensive tram expansion work that will begin in 2023. Criticism of costs, new bus route from 2026. Recommissioning in 2025.
Construction track drama: Jena is struggling with costs and full closures!
In Jena, the next few years will be dominated by local transport expansion. How MDR reports, the recalculation of older plans leads to surprising additional costs that have been around for eight years. These additional financial burdens are already generating critical voices from the city councilors of the Left and the citizens of Jena. They ask why construction costs have skyrocketed and demand more transparency.
The construction projects put more strain on residents and road users than originally planned. In particular, the full closures that affect major areas north of Brückenstraße have an impact on daily traffic. The originally planned temporary measures and partial closures are no longer necessary, which is accompanied by more intensive traffic and extensive diversions.
Transport projects and bus routes
In order to meet the challenges of local transport, the city council also decided on a new bus route. This will serve the Drackendorf – Lobeda-Altstadt – Lichtenhain – Ziegenhain route and act as a test project for a period of 18 months. Over 800 citizens have already expressed their support for this application, which shows that local residents are behind this project. The new route is scheduled to start every two hours on weekdays as soon as the required minibuses are available. The planned start of the bus route is scheduled for the third quarter of 2026.
The modernization of the tram infrastructure in Jena-Nord began in October 2023 and also brings with it some changes to regular services. There will be a complete closure between the Nordschule and Altenburger Straße stops from March to April 2024 - a measure that is linked to the installation of a new, more powerful overhead line. The timetable is also affected here: tram lines 1 and 4 only run between Lobeda-West and Holzmarkt, while line 5 commutes every 10 minutes between Lobeda-Ost and Nordschule.
Long term goals
After the construction work is completed on April 18, 2024, line 5 will run from Lobeda-Ost to Löbdergraben before changing to line 1 to Zwätzen. A new direct connection between Lobeda-Ost and Zwätzen is planned for December 2025, which could represent a further improvement to local transport in Jena. The Ernst-Abbe-Platz stops are also scheduled to be put back into operation in the first half of 2025, with the new contact wires expected to be laid here at the end of May.
The city of Jena has also decided to make all local transport stops barrier-free by 2030. This is 75% financed by federal funds, which means additional relief for the city and its citizens. The extensive renovation work initiated by Stadtwerke Jena is necessary to make local transport future-proof and to ensure accessibility for all citizens Jena public utilities notes.