Good news for students living in Germany: starting on Monday, bus SB58 to Kleve will run faster and more frequently. And there will also be bus stops on campus. The question is whether this will motivate German students to leave their cars at home.

A disappointment for students and staff living in Germany: it was announced last month that there will be no train connection between Nijmegen and Kleve. But now there’s a positive development: the buses will run faster and more frequently. And as of Monday line SB58 will also stop on the university campus.

Transfer

During rush hour (between 8.00 and 10.30 and between 15.00 and 19.30) the bus will run twice instead of once an hour. In addition, extra bus stops will open on campus and at the HAN. Some of the bus stops in Beek will become defunct so the trip there will be three minutes shorter.

‘I’ve often had to wait for an hour for the next bus.’

Third-year student of Psychology Miriam Panning, who lives in the German town of Kranenburg, is enthusiastic. She thinks that the bus stops on campus are a real improvement. ‘Now you have to go from the campus to the Central Station and then transfer to the bus to Kleve. If bus 10 is delayed, you miss the transfer. I’ve often had to wait for an hour for the next bus.’

Car

For Panning herself the changes don’t make much difference anymore because she’s bought a car. In her first semester she tried to travel by public transport, but that was too complicated. ‘Sometimes I had to be at the university in the evening and then I didn’t get home until 1.30 in the morning. Impossible. And you can never spontaneously arrange a date in in Nijmegen because it takes at least an hour and a half before you get there.’

She now carpools to the university with other residents of Kranenburg. She thinks that the changes will be useful to new first-year students. ‘We’re still students – you don’t easily decide to invest in the luxury of a car. We prefer to travel by public transport.’

What would have to happen to get Panning out of the car and into the bus? ‘There’d have to be an express bus that didn’t stop in all of the villages along the way. And transport costs would have to be cheaper. I’m not entitled to a student card because I don’t study at a German university. A return trip to campus costs about seven euros.’