Munich needs to cut back—on drinking water, but especially on spending. The city’s financial situation remains strained, which is why the culture budget for this year had already been cut. And less money is available for public transit, which will become apparent when the new schedule takes effect on December 13. The City Council has now approved the MVG’s proposal, allowing it to take effect at the end of the year.
Changes to Bus Routes
The biggest changes in the new MVG schedule concern the buses. The network within the Mittlerer Ring is set to be modernized, which will primarily affect the route alignments. All existing stops will continue to be served, so you don’t need to worry about that. The goal is to not only reduce operating costs through streamlining and better coordination but also to improve punctuality.
Perhaps the most controversial change is the conversion of the X30 express line into bus 64. This route will serve all stops from Lorettoplatz to Arabellapark. Visitors to the Gasteig HP8 are expected to have a connection to this bus until at least 11:00 p.m. This was one of the previous points of criticism regarding the planned change. In the future , the 52 will run via the Au to Marienplatz instead of to Sendlinger Tor as it has until now. Route cuts and reduced service frequencies, on the other hand, primarily affect residential areas on the outskirts of the city, such as the 179 and 174. The 175 and 173 will now run only every 20 minutes.
Changes to the subway and tram in the new schedule
For the subway, almost everything will remain the same; however, the U7 peak-hour service will now only operate during rush hour outside of school breaks. For the tram, on the other hand, there will be some changes to the frequency. For example, Tram 25 will now run only every 10 minutes, as will Tram 23, although larger vehicles will be used during rush hour on this route. The new schedule for tram 23 will also take effect on August 3, rather than in December.
Lines 19 and 21 will swap their eastern branches, but otherwise everything will remain the same. And there’s one more piece of good news to wrap things up: Starting at the beginning of the winter semester, Tram 20 will run every 5 minutes during peak hours instead of every 10 minutes. The exact details of the new schedule are still undecided and will only become clear in the coming months.
