Cologne traffic turnaround in danger: KVB is fighting millions of losses!

Cologne traffic turnaround in danger: KVB is fighting millions of losses!

Köln, Deutschland - The Cologne Verkehrs-Betriebe AG (KVB) face major challenges to achieve their ambitious goals by 2035. According to the latest information from KStA.de plans to transport around 340 million passengers annually. This would mean an increase of around 100 million passengers compared to 2024 when the transport company only promoted 236.2 million passengers.

In order to implement this increase, a massive expansion of the bus and rail offering is mandatory. A central obstacle is the desolate financial Situation of the urban budget, as Mayor Henriette Reker emphasizes. The KVB reported a loss of 185.1 million euros for 2023, which represents an increase of 40.9 percent compared to the previous year. The reasons for this are diverse, including the lack of ticket demand due to the Germany ticket as well as high personnel costs and politically defined ticket prices.

financial difficulties and necessary reductions

The losses of KVB exceed the cost duct of 160 million euros per year previously defined, which underlines the need for a fundamental reassessment. At the beginning of 2023, KVB was forced to reduce the timetable, which met with broad criticism. This situation led to the consideration that the KVB could reduce its expansion plans to a basic variant in order to counteract a possible traffic collapse.

The basic scenario includes the commissioning of the north-south -way railway after 2032 and the expansion of the east-west axis and lines 4, 13 and 18.

situation of the urban companies

While KVB is the largest loss loan among urban companies, the Kölner Stadtwerke (SWK) developed a concept for securing results. This concept should make it possible to get loans on cheaper conditions. The Kölner Stadtwerke will present their balance sheets on Friday, while the KVB business figures can already be viewed online.

Despite the financial needs of the KVB, there are positive developments in the urban area. The municipal energy supplier Rhein-Energie reported a profit of 347.5 million euros after taxes for 2024, which represents growth of 10 percent compared to 2023. These profits could help compensate for the losses of other city companies, including the KVB.

look at the Cologne traffic history

The Cologne Verkehrs-Betriebe AG was founded in 1877 when the first horse tram in Cologne started operating. Since then, the company has developed strongly-from electrification from 1901 to the construction of the U-Stadtbahn network, which began in 1963. KVB currently operates an extensive line network that consists of 11 light rail lines and 44 bus lines, whereby the company employs over 3,151 employees.

The developments of recent years illustrate the challenges in front of which the KVB is facing. The need for a massive expansion of the transport offer and the associated financial difficulties will continue to employ the KVB intensively in the coming years.