The future of Berne railway station: traffic measures are launched
The municipal construction and traffic measures planned in connection with the "Zukunft Bahnhof Bern" (ZBB) project will be put on public display from 26 April 2023. The project approved by the voters in March 2021 has been revised in the Hirschengraben area based on several expert opinions.
To ensure that Bern station can continue to fulfil its function as a transport hub, it is being expanded as part of the “Zukunft Bahnhof Bern” (ZBB) project: Regional Transport Bern-Solothurn (RBS) is building a new station underneath the existing SBB tracks. SBB is building a second passenger subway with new station accesses at Bubenbergzentrum and Länggasse. Construction work has been underway since 2017; commissioning is planned from 2028.
Municipal construction and traffic measures
The city’s task is to ensure that travellers can get to the new station quickly and safely. In order to provide more space for pedestrian traffic at Bubenbergplatz, lanes are to be removed, circulation and recreation areas are to be enlarged and green times for pedestrians are to be extended. To ensure that public transport can continue to circulate smoothly, motorised individual traffic on the Inselplatz-Bubenbergplatz-Bahnhofplatz-Bollwerk axis must be reduced by around 60 percent – this will be achieved by adjusting the traffic regime on Bubenbergplatz and at Bollwerk/Henkerbrünnli. In order to be able to cope with the sharp increase in passenger flows following the opening of the new station access, an underground passenger passage is also required at the already congested Bubenbergplatz, leading from the new SBB public facility directly into Hirschengraben.
“A well-connected and efficient railway station is the main artery of sustainable urban mobility,” says municipal councillor Marieke Kruit, Director of Civil Engineering, Transport and Urban Greening. “The city of Bern must also do its part.” In addition to financing, a prerequisite for the urban construction and transport measures is a zoning ordinance. These will be open to the public for almost five weeks from 26 April 2023.
Hirschengraben sub-project has been revised
The voters of the city of Berne approved the implementation loan for the urban construction and transport measures in March 2021. In the wake of the referendum, the plans for Hirschengraben were adjusted based on the recommendations of several expert opinions requested by the Federal Commission for the Preservation of Historical Monuments (EKD). The project adjustments were commissioned by the municipal council in November 2022 (see the media release of 22 November 2022). The project, which has been revised in the meantime, features various changes compared to the original plans (see box) – the most important: the chestnut trees in Hirschengraben are to be preserved in their current locations as far as possible; the five trees that have to be removed as a result of the construction work in the area of the passage and the tram loop will be replaced after the work is completed. “The initial situation at Hirschengraben is complex, but we have now been able to find a coherent and resilient solution. From the point of view of the municipal council, the adapted project meets the various concerns in the best possible way,” says Marieke Kruit.
Steps towards realisation
The development regulations, which are now open to the public, will have to be adopted by the city council and then approved by the Cantonal Office for Municipalities and Spatial Planning. According to current planning, the main elements of the urban transport measures can be implemented in April 2028, at the same time as the opening of the new railway station access. However, delays cannot be ruled out if appeals are lodged during the approval process and these are taken to higher legal authorities.