Already in 2016/17, a first feasibility study confirmed the technical feasibility of a cable car.

In 2021, the standardised evaluation demonstrated a very good benefit-cost ratio and thus the economic viability of the project.

As a result, the city council decided at the end of 2021 to register the cableway for the public transport requirement plan of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia; the regional council later approved this.

At the beginning of 2022, the transport committee of the state parliament decided to include the cableway in the demand plan and the ÖPNV infrastructure financing plan based on it.

This means that important prerequisites for further planning have been decided.

How it continues

Now the city and the municipal utility are working together to revise the existing technical planning, to carry out preliminary consultations with authorities and relevant public agencies, among others, to prepare a preliminary report for a tender, to prepare the functional tender and the planning approval procedure, and to continue the participation process to involve the citizens.

At present, various preliminary expert opinions are being obtained and coordination with various public interest groups is underway.

These include in particular: an expert opinion on the wind simulation at the Posttower (high-rise building on the planned route), a meteorological expert opinion and an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

Once the various preliminary reports are available, the planned route will be revised and a functional tender will be prepared.

A cableway manufacturer will then be commissioned.

The latter will then prepare the implementation planning and accompany the planning approval procedure. The city administration currently expects the implementation planning to be completed and the application for planning approval to be submitted by mid-2026.

After that, the subsidies can be applied for and the construction of the cable car can be commissioned. Finally, after construction, the Bonn cable car will be put into operation in local transport.

Mayor Katja Dörner said: “I am confident that we will successfully and quickly move forward with this local transport highlight for Bonn. The cable car will not only significantly improve mobility on the Venusberg in an environmentally friendly way, but will also be the fastest connection from the railway to many important workplaces on the left and right of the Rhine. It will set an example for other municipalities seeking solutions for climate-friendly urban mobility.