City council has decided on changes to local transport services

The city of Jena is one of the best in Thuringia in terms of public transport services and is planning to make moderate adjustments in 2025. This is due to savings targets in the 2025/2026 double budget. At its May meeting, the city council decided which specific adjustments are to be implemented.

What is at stake?

In order to achieve the budget target, 500,000 euros are to be saved annually in local transport. The city council adopted this target back in January 2025. The basis for the planned measures is a current analysis of the use of the individual bus and streetcar lines.

In consultation with Jena's local transport authority, the city administration has drawn up proposals on how to reduce the number of services in a targeted manner and with as little impact as possible. It is important to note that no part of the city should be cut off from local transport. All areas currently served should continue to have at least a basic service in the future.

Why do we have to make savings at all?

Compared to other cities in Thuringia, local transport in Jena is one of the best. But like everywhere else, the financial pressure is high. In 2019, the city council decided that the subsidy for local transport should not increase by more than 6 percent per year - but this target has not been met recently.

The reasons for this include

• necessary investments in the streetcar infrastructure project
• increased wages due to new collective agreements
• permanently high costs for energy and materials
• high interest rates for loans taken out,
• as well as passenger numbers that have not yet fully returned after Corona (currently approx. 94% of the 2019 level)
• Introduction of the Deutschlandticket - but without full counter-financing from the federal and state governments

What exactly is planned?

The city administration's proposals, which were developed together with Jena's local public transport system, can be divided into two areas:

1. Stretching the cycle times, made possible, for example, by higher capacities of the new light rail vehicles These changes are to be implemented by the end of 2025.
   1. New routing of streetcar lines 1, 4 and 5 Monday - Friday in daytime service every 10 minutes
   2. Frequency reduction Monday - Friday from 9.00 a.m. in daytime traffic (bus line 14 to 20-minute intervals)
   3. Frequency reduction Monday - Friday from 8.30 a.m. during the day (bus route 16 to 20-minute intervals)
   4. Frequency reduction at weekends (bus lines 14, 15, 16 to 30-minute intervals)
2. Contractual savings in the little-used part of the bus network - especially where hardly anyone travels and the service is therefore very expensive per passenger and where alternative local transport services exist for the area.
   1. the discontinuation of journeys on low-frequency bus routes 42 and 48 as well as all AST services (except routes 18, 44).

The city council remains committed to opening up the districts of Drackendorf, Lobeda-Altstadt, Ziegenhain and Lichtenhain, which was already decided in February 2024 but has not yet been implemented due to the savings that still need to be made. This shows that not only are services being reduced, but also other districts that have not yet been connected to the Jena public transport network.

What does this mean for the citizens?

The city assures us that every district will remain connected to the local transport network. The planned changes are primarily intended to help stabilize the local transport situation. The most important connections will remain in place, and only where it makes sense will the timetable be adjusted.

Streetcar extension in Jena-Nord remains in place

In order to achieve the city of Jena's ambitious climate targets and convince more people to use public transport, the administration is sticking to a central transport project in the north of the city. The streetcar is to be extended to Zwätzen as planned. Funds of over 62 million euros are available for this, which are to be invested from the end of this year. This project is an important building block in the implementation of Jena's mobility guidelines and a clear commitment to environmentally friendly modes of transport, in particular local public transport. In March of this year, the city council provided additional funds to cover the additional costs of around 5.1 million euros. The city continues to rely on strong, reliable, attractive and economically viable local public transport. Only in this way can it become the backbone of our climate-friendly mobility strategy in the long term.

What happens next?

The agreed savings will now be successively implemented. In addition, the city council has instructed the administration, together with Jena's local transport company, to examine various cost-neutral measures to mitigate the savings (e.g. setting up ride-sharing benches, operating the stops in Himmelreich by regional transport, optimizing routes in the affected districts). It should also be made clear to the public once again that all public transport vehicles (rail, streetcar and bus) in fare zone 30 can be used with one ticket.

Statement by Lord Mayor Thomas Nitzsche

"Our goal is clear: we want to make local public transport in Jena fit for the future - even under difficult financial conditions. The proposed adjustments are not cuts using the lawnmower method, but targeted measures based on sound technical facts. We are maintaining basic services in all parts of the city and at the same time improving the stability of services. In this way, we are ensuring that bus and rail services in Jena will continue to run reliably in the future - with a sense of proportion and responsibility. At the same time, the planned savings in local transport contribute to the already agreed relief of the city budget and underpin the budget decision to reduce transport services in the local transport plan."

Statement by Dirk Lange, Head of Department for Urban Development, Environment and Mobility

"The proposed adjustments to local transport are a necessary response to financial bottlenecks - the aim is to further develop local transport in the coming years in a healthy way - for example by using larger vehicles and converting the infrastructure - also by expanding the streetcar line to Zwätzen. At the same time, we are taking targeted measures to ensure greater reliability in operations and thus strengthen people's confidence in buses and trains. Our vision remains efficient local transport - but on a sustainable basis." To achieve this, it will be necessary to examine further alternative transport options such as autonomous driving and, if suitable, to include them in the portfolio of local transport services."