CHURCH LINK
SERVICE STARTS AT 1030
which will take you to the YouTube page.
Then click on the page for today's date.
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Trip To 22's Terminus (Virtually)
... and it is, as you see, a timetable, not a departure list. Hooray!
Sadly, it doesn't run from the station. But this is Germany where they want you to use public transport and, to achieve this end, they try to be as helpful as possible. Here we have a choice of routes to Krollwitz, one of which (Linie 4) leaves from the Hauptbahnhof. There is a very workable 4 minutes connection.
If the virtual fbb were to be starting from the Marktplatz ...
... he would have just two minutes to make his connection. If this were the UK, the old man would treat such a tight connection with total disdain - but this is Germany and he would expect to make it, every time!
But this virtual journey will start at the station, from a stop under one of the big train viaducts.
The network map (a bit cluttered for fbbs liking), shows trams as square blobs and buses as circular, a distinction carried over to the on-line timetables, again a proper timetable.
An independent web site provides us with a simple tram-only map for those who only approve of steel wheel in steel rail. Below is an extract.
Also at Krollwitz we can see our bus 22 (PALE BLUE) and its terminus at Heide-Nord. So we now know that bus 22 is a shuttle linked to the tram terminus. A nip over to Google maps reveals Heide-Nord as a huge estate of apartment blocks.
It is surprising that the trams have not been extended to serve this area, but there may be political or financial reason why not - either way the connecting buses seem to offer a good service. But, if your German can cope ...
Heide-Nord und Lettin mit Bussen erschlossen. Da sich die Einwohnerzahlen in dem Stadtteil positiv entwickeln und die Stadt weitere Bauflächen für Einfamilienhäuser erschließt, ist in den kommenden Jahren auch mit steigenden Fahrgastzahlen zu rechnen. Dieser Entwicklung will die Stadt Rechnung tragen und das Straßenbahnnetz ausbauen.
(Strassenbahnnetz - tram network : ausbauen - build out)
There are proposals to extend trams to Heide-Nord and on to Lettin.
Krollwitz terminus is, as they say, "something else". As regular blog reader will know, there is no Streetview in Germany (Boo - Whatever happened to all that EU togetherness?), so we make do with Google Earth.
Tram 7 arrives from bottom right and has a terminal loop via the car park area at the top of the picture. Trams 4 and 5 come the other way, from top left, and use their very own terminal loop in the scrubland below. Buses stop in laybys on the loop road alongside the platforms.
Google Earth also shows Park and Ride, an electric car charging point and the place "where it's at" ...
... namely Pete's "Imbiss". An over-enlarged Google Earth view reveals that imbiss translates into ...
... Snack Bar; and there are tables, Peter's van and the toilets - everything that a weary traveller needs for continuing their journey. Of course there is also an extensive bike rack.
It is all about "commuting" to/from Heide-Nord, so the departure lists, which are available in addition to the timetables, show the 15 minute headway on Mondays to Fridays ...
... but a less attractive every 40 minutes on Saturdays, Sundays and "Bank Holidays".
The information is deficient in one piece of information only. There are no route by route maps. This is not so bad for the trams and the buses where they are in parallel, but fbb is quite sure that the 22 does more than just run into the estate and stop.
Surely there will be a loop somewhere? Maybe not, but a proper map would help no end.
The terminus is at a shopping centre which has seen better days ...
fbb thinks the Leo Passage is no more.
So, whilst the trams and buses look good and the on-line publicity (apart from individual route maps!) is helpful and user friendly, it does seem that Halle does not escape the social problems of all of the West's big urban areas.
But let's end on a positive. Correspondent Colin has just (1700 yesterday) reminded fbb that Halle has a splendid tramway museum.
Trams also run tours on the town' system,
Singende, klingende Weihnachtsbahn**
Datum: 29.11.2003 (12:00)
Anlässlich der Fertigstellung der umfangreichen Bauarbeiten am Franckeplatz bedankte sich die Hallesche-Verkehrs-AG mit einer Adventsstraßenbahn bei allen Fahrgästen für die Geduld. Unser Verein durfte an allen vier Samstagen im Advent zwischen Trotha und der Elsa-Brändström-Straße mit dem historischen Triebwagen 523 vorweihnachtliche Stimmung verbreiten.
Unser Weihnachtsmann verteilte hierbei kleine Aufmerksamkeiten, während er alle Fahrgäste zum gemeinsamen Singen traditioneller und moderner Weihnachtslieder ermunterte.
So now we know!
** Singing, Ringing, Christmas Train (i.e. tram)!
Colin also reminds fbb (who either never knew or had totally forgotten) that George Frideric Handel ...
... he of Water Music and Royal Fireworks fame, was born in a rather posh pad in Halle.
Nice!
Next Weekday Variety blog : Monday 8th February
"... all modes appear in one seamless web site."
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml
Despite some "teething troubles" in earlier years, the journey planner is now reasonably reliable, and gives accurate information about the scheduled timetables (even if the delays are not always accurate). The average passenger doesn't need or want a full timetable, hence the concentration on journey planners which perform the role more effectively.