Trolleybus runs more often again, but no normal timetable
Traffic
From Monday, the trolleybus in the city of Salzburg will run more often than before during peak times. A return to the normal timetable is currently not possible due to the ongoing shortage of staff, according to Salzburg AG.
Since October 24th, the trolleybus service in the state capital has been thinned out because there are too few bus drivers – more on that in Again restrictions on the trolleybus (salzburg.ORF.at; October 18, 2022).
Improvements defy tight personal corsets
In the meantime, the personnel bottlenecks have improved a bit – even if it is not yet possible to resume the normal timetable, says Gerlinde Hagler, head of the transport division at Salzburg AG: “Despite the tight personnel corset, we have managed to improve this timetable. Additional booster runs will ensure denser intervals during the morning and midday peaks.”
Specifically, there should be additional trips on lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 12 during the morning traffic peak. At midday and in the afternoons, the timetable on lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 is condensed. The booster buses will run between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and between 11:45 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. during peak hours in order to offer passengers a better service. Salzburg AG promises that these additional buses should also be listed in the electronic information system and also in the posted timetables for better customer information.
If necessary, with a particularly large number of passengers, additional trips would be added, says Hagler: “We have used this option again and again in the past few weeks. That has proven itself and we will continue to do so.”
Search for trolleybus drivers in progress
At the same time, the search for new trolleybus drivers will be intensively continued, emphasizes the head of the transport division. In current operations, however, this does not have any effect: “We very much regret that we are currently unable to provide the full and usual timetable services and ask for your understanding for this measure. Unfortunately, the extremely tense personnel situation leaves us with no other option.”