In the foreseeable future, the state capital will not be able to achieve the politically agreed goal of emission-free bus transport, which was anchored in the clean air plan.

Not only because battery-powered articulated buses were not yet available on the market, which is why an initial public tender had not led to the goal.

But also because ESWE is not adequately prepared for such a turning point in the fleet.

In addition, ESWE needs more buses than initially planned anyway and permanently because the vast majority of citizens have rejected a tram.

As a result, Wiesbaden city traffic will remain entirely dependent on buses for the next few years.

And the majority of these are still powered by diesel fuel.

Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus district and for Wiesbaden.

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Hardly more than half of the 120 electrically powered solo buses ordered and also available from the industry have been delivered so far because ESWE first had to prepare the infrastructure in the cramped depot on Gartenfeldstrasse.

The decrease was therefore slowed down.

The city now wants to accept the remaining 56 buses by the end of the year and thus put all 120 solo buses into operation.

However, their range is more than half that of their diesel counterparts at 450 kilometers.

But the space in the depot on Gartenfeldstraße and on a part of the Salzbachaue is by no means sufficient for all 308 buses that ESWE currently has in stock.

As a result, some buses have to be parked on the street outside of their operating hours.

New articulated diesel buses are being ordered

ESWE Verkehr is desperately looking for places to park three or four dozen articulated diesel buses for a short time during daily operation.

"We have reached our absolute capacity limit," says an ESWE spokesman.

ESWE is already in talks with possible partners about additional parking spaces, but no decisions have yet been made.

The speaker does not reveal much more about the options.

But the goal is a parking area as close as possible to the depot: "But that will be anything but easy."

The proximity to the depot is particularly important because of the transfer times of the vehicles.

In addition, ESWE Verkehr wants quick access to the buses if, in view of the foreseeable success of the nine-euro ticket and the event season, which is again largely unaffected by Corona requirements, an increased passenger demand is to be served quickly.

"We therefore also keep all existing vehicles ready for use at short notice," says the spokesman.

The articulated buses, which are so important for Wiesbaden city traffic because of their higher passenger capacity, will continue to be powered by diesel in the future.

ESWE Verkehr will even have to order additional vehicles that are as low-emission as possible.

For the time being, there will be no repetition of the initially unsuccessful tender for the delivery of battery-powered articulated buses.

This is on hold, the spokesman confirmed on request.

Probably until ESWE has a concept for charging stations at the end points of important lines or for a second and possibly third depot.

This is considered to be urgently needed, but city politics has not yet dealt with it.

New substation in Bierstadt still planned

The course change at ESWE Verkehr also entails a change of course at ESWE Supply.

The managing director of the subsidiary Stadtwerke Wiesbaden Netz GmbH, Peter Lautz, announces that plans for the construction of a substation on Gartenfeldstrasse may be abandoned.

The need no longer exists after ESWE Verkehr reduced its requirements.

"We took note of the decision and immediately started planning alternatives," says Lautz, although it took five years to secure the necessary property in negotiations.

It has to be re-examined whether a substation will nevertheless be built there to boost power in the city centre.

Lautz assumes that the demand for electricity will increase, if only because of the increase in electric cars and heat pumps in buildings.

However, the construction of a substation takes around four years.

On the other hand, ESWE Supply is sticking to the network expansion planned together with Syna in the east of Wiesbaden, including a new substation in Bierstadt costing around 5.7 million euros.

This is the only way to provide sufficient electricity for the consequences of the energy transition.

The Am Wolfsfeld substation is one of seven Wiesbaden facilities that convert high voltage to medium voltage in order to then forward it to around 900 local network stations.

This is where the conversion to low voltage for houses and apartments takes place.

Around 25,000 apartments in the north-eastern parts of the city have so far been served from Bierstadt.