Bus line 42 now runs to Knonau

With the timetable change on Sunday, the largest contiguous, cross-border S-Bahn in Europe goes into operation in Geneva. The Zugerland Verkehrsbetriebe (ZVB) will also be crossing a border for the first time, namely that of the canton of Zurich. This will be achieved done by simple optimisation. From the timetable change, the bus route 42 from the Cham railway train station to Cham Pfad will now continue on to Knonau (Canton of Zurich) every half an hour from Monday to Friday. As was learned during yesterday's maiden voyage, the investment for this bus connection lies in the middle four-figure amount per year. This has been achieved because certain stop times have been eliminated.

For the Cham Mayor Georges Helfenstein, the trip to Knonau has the character of a “milestone”. The Cham municipal councillor Drin Alaj, who is also responsible for public transport, describes the new connection "as a good thing". He also praises the speed in which the new bus branch to Knonau will be implemented. The application, which goes back to an SVP motion, was completed within 18 months.

The Zug construction director Florian Weber, to whom the department for public transport reports since this year, speaks of the openness in the canton of Zug: “As a centre and hub in the north of Central Switzerland, Zug has long connected to the surrounding towns, for the benefit of its own population and of the municipalities in the neighbouring cantons. The bus extension that we are celebrating today brings great benefits for the residents of the Säuliamt, and for people from Risch, Hünenberg and Cham.”

The protagonists of the test drive: the Knonau councillors Nathanaël Wenger and Marianne Domeisen (from left), the Chamer councillors Rolf Ineichen, Christine Blättler-Müller and Drin Alaj, the Cham mayor Georges Helfenstein, Zug's construction director Florian Weber, Knonau's mayor Esther Breitenmoser, the Knonauer councillors Rico Roth and Dominik Stöckli, together with ZVB company director Cyril Weber.

Travelling via Zug will no longer be necessary, and train customers can also expect trains in Knonau in which there will still be plenty of free spaces - in particular the S5 S-Bahn, which provides a cost-effective connection to central Zurich (CHF 5.40 with Halbtax) and on to Rapperswil/Pfäffikon. Weber believes that the expansion towards Zurich is a logical consequence of the development in recent years: "Knonau, Sins and Goldau are part of the Greater Zug area, in the same way as Lörrach and Mulhouse are part of the Basel area."

The axis of the extended 42 bus line includes the Cham Papieri site and the OYM sports centre, which the incumbent EVZ President Hans-Peter Strebel is building as a private individual. The facility is used by the EVZ (Zug hockey club), as well as by other top athletes. With attractive transport connections, these will also be potential customers. The opening date of the performance centre is March 23, 2020.

The new bus is also a valuable gain for Esther Breitenstein, Mayor of Knonau: "The journey to the Eizmoos football field, the Andreas Clinic or Lake Zug is now easier." Cham and Knonau will move even closer together. The extension of bus line 42 is initially intended to be provisional for three years. The parties involved will then decide whether it should be continued. Construction director Florian Weber says: “I hope that the offer will be used heavily and that the temporarium will become a 'Providurium'"