VBZ thin out timetable due to lack of staff in 2023

With a targeted reduction in the offer, the municipal transport companies want to prevent unplanned cancellations of individual courses.

Tram number 15, here a picture from May 2018, will not run in the new year either.

Andreas Haas / Imago

An eventful, difficult year for the municipal transport company (VBZ) is coming to an end, said Michael Baumer (FDP). At the annual media conference, the manager of the industrial companies gave an outlook on the further development of public transport in Zurich. But the main focus of interest was the very tense personnel situation at the moment.

In the driving service, the VBZ record absences averaging 9 to 10 percent. This is higher than in previous years. The development was very volatile, a pattern hardly recognizable, explained the top management. But they are expecting a further increase in the number of absences due to flu and – still – as a result of infections with the corona virus in the coming weeks.

Plan two months in advance

The illness-related absences exacerbate the generally tense situation as a result of the widespread shortage of skilled workers. Therefore, VBZ director Marco Lüthi had to announce that from January 9th, the timetable will probably be slightly reduced until spring. He regrets that very much, he said.

Tram line 15, which has been discontinued since October 10, will also be idle in 2023 for the time being. It made sense because a different line ensures access along its entire length. Line 17 runs from Monday to Saturday from 8:30 p.m. and not on Sunday. On various bus lines (32, 40, 61/62) the timetable will be thinned out during rush hour, on lines 66 and 89 slightly adjusted. Lines 83 and 46/46E are back to normal operation.

With the sophisticated planning, the VBZ want to keep the timetable stable and avoid unplanned course cancellations. Baumer did not accept that the problems in Zurich were greater than in other Swiss cities. We are in close contact with the transport companies in other cities. The measures are unpleasant, but are implemented in such a way that they are almost not noticeable in normal operation.

One reason why you cannot react quickly is simply the size of the public transport network. A lead time of two months is required for major adjustments to the timetable in Zurich: one month is needed to prepare exactly where and how the dismantling will take place, and another month to work out the new duty rosters for the staff.

Recruitment of students: «Shoe fully pulled out»

On the other hand, the VBZ are stepping up efforts to recruit new staff. “We are trying to address people in a new way so that more people are interested in us, and we have simplified the application process,” said Lüthi. But under no circumstances do you want to screw on quality and safety.

As Lüthi put it, the VBZ have “pulled out a shoe fully” with their attempt to recruit students. It was stopped in the summer after intervention by the social partners. But they want to use the experience, says Lüthi, and explore the conditions to make the part-time driver service more attractive.

The thinning out of the timetable has been agreed with the Federal Office of Transport and the Zurich Transport Association (ZVV) and must be approved by both bodies. But it also has financial consequences for the city because it cannot provide transport services that have been ordered. You will receive less performance pay, but in a very low percentage range, as Baumer assured.

He also countered assumptions that tram 15 would be discontinued altogether. On the other hand, the fact that he lives on this line himself and some members of the city council would normally take the 15 to the town hall speaks against it, he said with a wink. More seriously, Baumer added that this line was strategically important. In the future, it is to be extended from Stadelhofen to Rehalp for better access to the Lengg hospital district and, after the completion of the Affoltern tram, will run to Auzelg instead of the 11er.

Replacement of older trams is progressing, at the moment

Not only is it being dismantled, but the future is also being shaped. Everything is going well there: the planning for the Affoltern tram is on course. The four-kilometre-long new line runs from the radio studio to Holzerhurd via eight stops. In April, the Federal Council granted the infrastructure concession and 40 percent co-financing as part of the agglomeration program is also secured.

The network development strategy 2040 will be presented in the second half of 2023. The last status provided for an actual ring system for tram traffic in the future. The electrification of the bus fleet is progressing, and by 2030 it should be running almost entirely without diesel. Because electric drives are more efficient, the energy consumption of all VBZ buses will have roughly halved by then.

34 new Flexity trams are already in operation, and two more are expected by the end of the year. After that, 17 new vehicles are to be added every year. But here at the latest the current crises catch up with the VBZ. Certainly there is little at this time: Bottlenecks can delay the delivery of the new trams and e-trolleybuses.

source site-111