Herne cable car company launches as "Blumenthal Airline"

As announced, Straßenbahn Herne – Castrop-Rauxel GmbH (HCR) and the globally operating mobility company Transdev have founded a joint venture to operate the future urban cable car for the transport development of the Blumenthal area. Herner Seilbahngesellschaft mbH (HSG) will operate the first urban cable car in Germany integrated into the existing public transport network under the brand name "Blumenthal Airline".

With the founding of the Herne cable car company, the partner companies HCR (51 percent share) and Transdev (49 percent share) are taking an important step towards commissioning the system. Matthias Bley (commercial manager of HCR) and Christian Glück (Head of Innovation and New Markets at Transdev) will serve as managing directors of the company. Stefan Thabe, the planning and transport officer for the city of Herne, will chair the shareholders' meeting.

The company's founding was notarized as announced at the end of January. In recent weeks, the partners have agreed on the brand under which the company will operate. With the creative input of Herne's city marketing company, the "Blumenthal Airline" was created: "With this, we are deliberately opting for a brand identity that literally stands out from what is usually seen in the public transport sector: With 'Blumenthal Airline,' we want to attract attention and generate buzz – with Germany's first urban cable car integrated into the public transport system and the 'Blumenthal hoch3' project as a whole," summarizes Mayor Dr. Frank Dudda.

What is already an integral part of modern mobility systems in numerous countries is set to make everyday mobility easier in Herne – for the first time in Germany. The integration of this new mode of transport into Herne's public transport network is not only being viewed with great interest by numerous public transport experts nationwide, but is also very well received by those responsible at the Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association (VRR).

HCR Managing Director Karsten Krüger: “As a mobility service provider, we are convinced that the cable car will be a benefit for our passengers in terms of reliability and speed. In cooperation with the VRR, we are developing answers and solutions to further questions such as sales facilities, implementation in timetable information systems, cabin design and replacement transport.”

Until the Herne City Council's planned decision this summer regarding the tender for the future urban cable car in Herne, the new cable car operating company still has numerous preparatory tasks on its agenda. By then, the company, operating under the brand "Blumenthal Airline," aims to have already made a strong impression: "With this brand, we want to pique the interest of as many people as possible in Herne, but also beyond the city limits, in this new mobility option in the heart of the Ruhr region," says Holger Wennrich, Managing Director of the Herne City Marketing Company, who played a key role in the brand development.

For co-shareholder Transdev, the Herne cable car project is groundbreaking for the further development of the public transport system as a whole: “We at Transdev are ready to implement this project together with the city of Herne and contribute our international expertise in the operation of urban cable car systems. With the globally acclaimed Câble C1 cable car project in southwest Paris, we are currently applying our many years of experience in cable car operation and demonstrating how an attractive cable car for citizens can be optimally integrated into an existing mobility system,” said Martin Becker-Rethmann, CEO responsible for the Transdev Group in Germany and a member of the board in Paris.