The Rheingau-Taunus district is doubling its subsidies to the district's own Rheingau-Taunus transport company (RTV) in order to significantly strengthen local public transport in rural areas.

With the timetable change this weekend and the three new bus companies as partners, the service of the Nassau Transport Company, which was last described as "catastrophic", should be a thing of the past.

Oliver Bock

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

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The Idsteiner Land, which has almost 60,000 inhabitants, should benefit, among others.

In addition to the new district cross connection (line 265), which connects the Taunus with the Rheingau, there will also be a shorter cross connection in the Lower Taunus with line 250.

Passengers who previously wanted to travel from Idstein to Aarbergen-Kettenbach had to put up with cumbersome transfers.

A continuous hourly connection between the northern towns (Aarbergen, Wallbach, Görsroth, Kesselbach and Idstein) has now been created: this route can be covered by bus in just under 45 minutes.

Accessibility within Hünstetten will also be improved.

In addition, a connection to the X72 express bus line to and from Wiesbaden is occasionally established at the Hühnerkirche.

Two new dial-a-bus routes

Line 230 will be extended beyond Idstein to Niedernhausen and will replace the previous line 228 at new hourly intervals. There are also two new dial-a-bus lines: Line 232 from Niedernhausen via Oberseelbach, Heftrich, Bermbach, Esch, Niederems to Steinfischbach, according to the traffic department Günter Döring (SPD) for the first time a "needs-based tangential connection" in the Idsteiner Land, with which the Reinborn settlement in Niederems could also be served.

Call bus line 229 connects Breithardt with Kesselbach via Strinz-Margarethä, Hennethal, Strinz-Trinitatis, Limbach, Wallbach and thus improves the connection between Hünstetten and Hohenstein as well as the accessibility of the medical center in Görsroth and the shopping center in Kesselbach.

In Breithardt there is a connection to line 207 to Bad Schwalbach and line 245 to Wiesbaden and Kettenbach.

New routes are also being established for some lines to meet actual demand.

For example, from the point of view of the district, the route between Ketternschwalbach and Hahn has not proven itself.

Line 225 therefore now takes the route from Wallbach via Bechtheim, Wallrabenstein, Wörsdorf and Idstein.

In Niedernhausen, the “Frankfurter Straße” commercial area will finally be connected with the timetable change.

"This is a clear step towards better local public transport for passengers in Niedernhausen.

Three essential wishes of the municipality of Niedernhausen are being fulfilled,” said Mayor Joachim Reimann (CDU) in praise of the changes.

The on-demand service introduced in Taunusstein with the “Emil” shuttle will – as reported – be extended to Idstein.

The city of Idstein supports the project with more than 300,000 euros.

From the point of view of Mayor Christian Herfurth (CDU), this is "money well invested" because it enables more individuality and flexibility in local public transport.

The offer is initially limited to the core area and the districts of Lenzhahn and Dasbach, which are not connected to the regular service.

In the Aar Valley, the connection between Rückershausen and Wiesbaden (line 245) will be upgraded every 30 minutes.

The new booster buses operate as express buses and only stop at the most important stops.

With the use of more articulated buses, RTV wants to meet the higher demand.

In the morning, the buses from Breithardt go to Wiesbaden every 15 minutes.

For commuters, there are quick connections to the state capital every 30 minutes in the morning at the Hühnerkirche.

The timetable does not meet with praise everywhere

The district is particularly satisfied with the new cross connection mentioned (line 265), which is initially limited to four years as a pilot project.

There is a direct connection between the Rheingau, Aar and Idsteiner Land including a stop in the district town of Bad Schwalbach.

“This means that an unprecedented travel time of around 70 minutes is possible.

It takes just under an hour to travel the same distance in your own car,” says Head of Traffic Döring.

This eliminates the 20-minute detour via the state capital of Wiesbaden.

The new route leads from Idstein via Eschenhahn, the Taunusstein districts of Neuhof, Wehen, Hahn and Bleidenstadt to Bad Schwalbach, Wambach, Schlangenbad and Martinsthal to Eltville and back.

This also links the vocational schools in Geisenheim and Taunusstein.

However, the new timetable is not met with praise everywhere.

The CDU in the Rheingau-Taunus district is dissatisfied that two school bus connections for a total of ten primary school children between Lorch and the Espenschied district are no longer available.

For the CDU, this is an opportunity to submit an emergency application to the district council, which is to be decided shortly before Christmas.

The Rufbus offer submitted by RTV is “not a viable alternative”.