We all want a city that’s a truly great place to live in. Healthy, with cleaner air, less noise and more space. With this in mind, both the Senate and Parliament in Hamburg have declared climate protection a top priority for the city. The target is for Hamburg to become climate-neutral by 2050. By 2030, damaging emissions are to be more than halved compared back to figures in 1990. The transport sector has a central and binding role to play here. 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions are to be saved between now and 2030.  

To achieve this target, private car traffic needs to be significantly reduced. The alternative to this is the significant expansion of the environmental alliance, or “Umweltverbund”, consisting of public transport including on-demand, cycling and walking. This is where the greatest leverage for more mobility with fewer emissions lies. With “Hamburg-Takt” as the most important component in the mobility transition, almost half of the required CO2 savings will be realised in the transport sector alone. HOCHBAHN, as the operator of U-Bahn and bus routes in Hamburg, therefore has an important role to play. 

Hamburg-Takt – what exactly is it all about? 

The “Hamburg-Takt” initiative aims to increase the market share of public transport from 22% in 2017 to 30% by 2030. In order to reach this target, more people will need to switch to public transport (including on-demand options).  

The philosophy behind this is that success will result in more passengers thanks to a range of options that recognises the different needs of the people of Hamburg.  

Whereas in the past we aligned our services with the level of demand and adjusted capacities accordingly, we are now deliberately breaking new ground. We’re aware, after all: Change doesn’t come about simply by pointing the finger. We need to understand the needs of our (potential) customers and then come up with some appealing proposals for them. Efficient, safe, intuitive, comfortable, consistent, fair and reliable – these are the attributes that make up our mission statement and will determine what Hamburg’s mobility of the future will look like. 

An important component of the mobility transition process is the expansion of the rapid transit network. With our project of the century, the new U5 line, for instance, HOCHBAHN will be creating entirely new transport links for Hamburg, and a U-Bahn route that will be used by many generations to come (LINK). 

The conversion of the HOCHBAHN bus fleet to zero-emission vehicles is also making an valuable contribution towards achieving climate-neutral transportation in Hamburg (LINK). 

Despite Covid-19: Hamburg’s public transport services better than ever  

Even during the Covid-19 pandemic we have remained loyal to our objectives, and climate protection has remained a top priority. In the midst of the crisis in December 2020, we launched the hvv’s largest service offensive ever, with the introduction of 200 new routes. More frequent running times, additional journeys, new XpressBus, MetroBus, StadtBus and neighbourhood bus routes: Never before has Hamburg had so many rail and road services than it does today. 

The best possible service – from announcements through to arrivals 

Our most important job now is to convince customers that the hvv and all auxiliary mobility services such as sharing or on-demand services, combined with a strong network of cycle paths and footpaths, represent a better alternative to travelling by private car. Only by ensuring a highly attractive public mobility offer can Hamburg prevent a collapse in transport and achieve its climate goals. 

It is important to offer our customers the same high level of service – from the moment they start planning their journey right through to arrival at their destination. Good networking with partners, meaning that an integrated service across all hvv channels is possible, is key to offering a consistently positive experience – from information announcements through to arrival. 

Stable system thanks to a strong infrastructure 

In order to facilitate more services and a more stable and efficient system, the existing bus and rail infrastructure needs to be adapted and updated. More passengers means more capacity. More frequent running times mean greater demands on stability. Over the coming years it will be necessary, in addition to maintenance, to align the existing U-Bahn network with these new needs. Rather than suffer from growing pains in future, we aim to uphold the latest and smartest standards, even in those parts of our system that are more than a century old.