More speed for tram line 8: Grand Council member requests change at Centralbahnplatz
Basel’s tram line 8 is the city’s favourite – not just because it goes across the border to allow cheap shopping in Weil am Rhein (Germany). However, the line needs to wait unnecessarily long at Centralbahnplatz, Social Democratic (SP) Grand Council member Kaspar Sutter thinks. He requests a change at the debated tram junction square by the Swiss and French Railway Station SBB.
Every time a tram of the line 8 travels across Centralbahnplatz, it needs to make a large detour: from Markthalle across the entire square to the tracks shared with lines 10 and 11. And often, the 8 has to wait until trams 10 and 11 have passed first. An impossible situation for one of the city’s busiest tram lines.
Kaspar Sutter, SP Grand Council member, agrees with these thoughts. In an proposal, he demands that the route of the 8 across Centralbahnplatz be changed to minimise its waiting periods. He writes: “The tram line 8 was and still is suffering from delays. Thanks to measurements, some of these could be lifted. But besides the heavy traffic situation in Weil am Rhein, the entry into Centralbahnplatz is still a nuisance and a reason for delays.”
Higher buildings in Basel for more residential and office space
Basel’s government on Tuesday presented zone plan revisions to provide space for 5,000 additional inhabitants and about 700 workspaces in Basel through zone expansions and densifications.
This revision puts emphasis on inner development, the Department for Construction and Traffic (BVD) informs. For example, there should be an allowance for higher building levels. In addition, the government aims to change building plans in order to create the possibility to construct more densely.
The measures are focussed on areas of adequate size and with large courtyard as well as street spaces that are outside the already packed city quarters, it is stated. Areas with particularly precious views and protected buildings or with “nature networking zones” will not be affected.
The zone plan revision is set to complement the currently running area developments. Due to strong economic growth, the demand for new living space will remain high in the future. Basel’s size grew by about 10,000 inhabitants in the past ten years. Around 20,000 new jobs were created in that time.
More than 5,300 signatures to save “Läufelfingerli”
A referendum against a part of the 8th general performance mandate in public transport (GLA) for the canton of Baselland concerning the replacement of the “Läufelfingerli” train line by a bus line was accepted.
For this cause, 5,368 signatures in total were collected and handed over to the country ministry in Liestal on Tuesday. At least 1,500 signatures are needed for a referendum in Baselland.
The signatures for the referendum against the GLA plans were collected by the non-partisan committee “für den ÖV in the Randregionen” (for public transport in peripheral regions). It fights the projected replacement busses for the local train line Sissach-Läufelfingen-Olten (S9). According to the committee, it would become harder for the whole region to find a direct connection to the national train network with the planned changeover of the S9.