Kaiserslautern night bus gets passengers home safely

SWK, the City Works of Kaiserslautern, offers the “Lautrer Nachtbus,” or Kaiserslautern night bus, as a service to help get people home at night and on weekends.

SWK night buses run Friday and Saturday nights and on German holidays (except Good Friday). The nine night lines take passengers into all parts of the city and most surrounding communities, starting at 12:15 a.m. for three hours.

“We made sure to have bus stops next to locations people like to visit at night, such as the Nachtschicht discotheque and the Kammgarn Culture Center,” said Andrea Oliver, SWK director of U.S. business.

The night buses stop at each regular bus stop throughout Kaiserslautern. They also stop on demand.
When on the night bus, passengers can also get off the bus outside of regular bus stops.

“Just let the driver know ahead of time,” Oliver said. “If there are no safety issues, (the driver) will let passengers get off at the front door.”

This rule also applies daily on all SWK bus lines starting at 8 p.m.

The night bus routes are as follows:
• Linie (line) N1: Siegelbach — Rodenbach — Weilerbach (+ call taxi or Ruftaxi )
• Linie (line) N2: — Hauptbahnhof (main train station) — Casimirring — Betzenberg
• Linie (line) N3: Dansenberg — Schopp — Krickenbach — Linden
• Linie (line) N4: Bännjerrück — Hohenecken — Queidersbach — Bann
• Linie (line) N6: Uni-Wohngebiet — Mölschbach — Stelzenberg — Trippstadt
• Linie (line) N7: Fischerrück — Erzhütten — Kreuzhof — Erfenbach — Otterbach — Katzweiler
• Linie (line) N10: Hochspeyer — Fischbach — Enkenbach-Alsenborn — Mehlingen (+ call taxi)
• Linie (line) N12: Sonnenberg — Morlautern — Erlenbach — Otterberg — Baalborn — Sembach
• Linie (line) N40: Grübentälchen — PRE-Park — Messeplatz

“On some routes, SWK offers a special service: the ‘Ruftaxi,’ or call taxi,” Oliver said. “When boarding a bus that does not go to the passengers’ final destination, they should inform the driver right away. He will arrange a taxi for the connecting trip.”

The tickets purchased for the night bus service are accepted for the taxi ride. For control purposes, passengers must present their night bus tickets to the taxi driver.

Call taxis are available …
• From the bus stop “Am Belzappel” (stop near Vogelweh) to take passengers to Einsiedlerhof and Kindsbach.

• In Weilerbach, near the Spar bus stop, to take passengers of the night line N1 to Erzenhausen, Eulenbis, Kollweiler, Mackenbach, Schwedelbach and Reichenbach-Steegen.

• In Alsenborn center to take passengers from night line N10 to Neuhemsbach.

Night buses start at 12:15 a.m. at the “Rathaus,” or city hall. Busses transport passengers for the next three hours; the last bus departs at 3:15 a.m.

“We hope our American friends will accept this service as well. We try to help decrease the numbers of DUIs with our night bus,” Oliver said.

Bus tickets within Kaiserslautern cost €2.20, tickets for Otterberg, Otterbach, Katzweiler, Rodenbach, Stelzenberg, Hochspeyer, Fischbach, Mehlingen, Baalborn and Kindsbach are €3.40, and tickets to Trippstadt, Weilerbach, Enkenbach-Alsenborn, Sembach, Bann, Queidersbach, Krickenbach, Linden and Schopp are €4. Passengers who own season tickets only have to pay an additional €1 for all locations.

For more information and to see the bus schedule, visit www.swk-kl.de/en/transportation/the-lautrer-night-bus.html.