Spatial planning City Council decides on the future of Bern railroad station despite objections

The City of Bern has received 22 objections to the municipal construction and transportation measures in the Zukunft Bahnhof Bern project. The City of Bern was unable to reach an agreement with six parties. Nevertheless, the City Council will now decide on the development regulations.

The measures were published in spring 2023. 20 objections related to the "ZBB Stadt Bern - Verkehrsmassnahmen" development regulations and two to the "Verkehrsbeschränkungsverfügung - ZBB" traffic restriction order, as the City of Bern wrote in a press release on Thursday.

The city was unable to reach an agreement with six parties whose objections were directed against the planned pedestrian passage to Hirschengraben during the objection negotiations, the city added.

The Federal Commission for the Preservation of Historical Monuments (EKD), on the other hand, expressed a positive opinion of the project and the most recently implemented project adjustments, it added.

New objection negotiations, if necessary

Based on the feedback from the public consultation and the objection negotiations, the City of Bern is planning minor changes to the project. These mainly concern traffic and its infrastructure.

The municipal council is now submitting the development regulations for the urban traffic measures to the city council. All project changes made since the submission will then be presented to the public once again. If necessary, further objection negotiations will take place. The development regulations will then be submitted to the Cantonal Office for Municipalities and Spatial Planning for approval.

The goal of putting the Hirschengraben pedestrian passage into operation at the same time as the opening of the new Bubenberg station access is still possible and will continue to be pursued.