Barrier-free travelling within the GVH – mobility for everyone!
The GVH stands up for barrier-free local transport and equivalent mobility opportunities. Wheelchair users, persons with a pram or with big luggage, as well as persons with visual and hearing disabilities, children and elderly people will benefit. Our goal is to make the entire trip chain and thus the use of different modes of transport within the GVH completely accessible. Inform yourself here about the services and the vehicle equipment of the GVH transport companies.
Journey planning for passengers with impaired mobility
The barrier-free designed GVH customer centre in the Karmarschstraße 30/32, 30159 Hanover provides you with detailed information and advice. Our staff are available to answer any questions and queries you may have Monday to Friday between 09:30 a.m. and 08:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 09:30 a.m. to 06:00 p.m.
For your desired connection within the GVH you will soon be able again to see in the electronic timetable, at which stops and at which time vehicles stop that are appropriate for persons with impaired mobility. In our route map all not barrier-free city tram stations are marked with a stair symbol. The city tram route map is available for download in the following.
Travelling with hearing and vision impairments
Visually- or hearing-impaired people can use the buses and trams of the GVH without restrictions. Electronic displays inside the vehicles and at many stops as well as loudspeaker announcements transmit all important information in written or figurative form or by announcement to the passengers. At all stops you can additionally find schedule and route maps as well as further written information.
In buses and trams the next stop is announced. In the regional trains and the suburban trains announcements are also made in order to inform the passenger on which side they can exit. In the city trams you can hear the announcement when the exit is left instead of right – as usual.
Information for seriously disabled persons
In order to make travelling for passengers with reduced mobility as trouble-free as possible, the ÜSTRA offers supporting advice on its website concerning barrier-free travelling with bus and rail. What specific offers are being made for seriously disabled persons can be looked up in the GVH instruction sheet "unentgeltliche Beförderung schwerbehinderter Menschen" (available in German only).
PDF Download information sheet (available in German language only)
Barrier-free vehicles of the GVH transport companies
The two latest city tram types – the TW 2000 (called „Silberpfeil“) and the TW 3000 are easily accessible everywhere for passengers with reduced mobility. In each wagon you can find an area with upward folding seats between the first and second entrance. These places are designed for persons with a wheelchair, walking frame or pram.
The TW 6000 (the green light rail vehicle) has a step between platform edge and vehicle, which cannot be passed with all types of wheelchairs. Most of these light rail vehicles don’t have a middle bar at the third entrance, so that the entrance area is considerably widened. Orange coloured stripes above the door indicate where you can find these widened entrances. At all other entrances, passengers with pram or walking frame should use the wider part of the entrance. You should avoid the first and last door if possible. The green light rail vehicles are marked in the schedules by an “X“.
At the stops, wheelchair users travelling with ÜSTRA buses, should stand near the stop post and approx. 30 centimetres from the kerb. You can request the vehicle ramp by a push-button with a wheelchair pictogram. The ramp is extended only when the door is closed and requires one meter of space. If it meets with an obstacle, it retracts and starts again.
The regional trains of WestfalenBahn have a wheelchair accessible restroom, also suitable for electric wheelchairs. Furthermore they have gap bridging at all doors. The load capacity of a manual wheelchair ramp is 350 kg. If required, please announce your desired trip the previous day up to 05:00 p.m. using the WestfalenBahn information line at +49 521 55777-755 or by e-mail at info@westfalenbahn.de.
erixx runs on all routes with low floor vehicles type Lint 41 and Lint 54. In the erixx trains wheelchairs can be secured with belts in the multi-purpose area. The low-floor technology makes entry and exit into the vehicle easy.
All trains of metronom are equipped with a boarding ramp in the control cab coach. If the train is going to Uelzen, the control cab coach is at the front of the train. If it is going to Göttingen the ramp is at the end of the train. The ramp is operated by the passenger service. You can call the passenger service by pushing the „wheelchair“ button, which is located outside at the front door of the control cab coach.
enno trains of metronom
The enno trains have gap bridging at all doors and an additional wheelchair ramp in a marked train section.
Nearly all buses of regiobus are equipped with low-floor technology and have ramps which can be folded manually as well as the level-control “kneeling” function. Space for wheelchairs, walking frames and pram is available in all buses.
In the regional express trains (RE) of the Deutsche Bahn (DB), most of the wagons are easy accessible for persons in wheelchairs.
People with reduced mobility using the Deutsche Bahn should know:
- In case of trains with only one wagon, only wagons with level-crossing entrance are used.
- Who wants to enter without step and gap, should go to the front of the train.
- The front door is equipped with a folding ramp or a lift, operated by the train driver.
Barrier-free stops within the GVH
At the high-level platforms and the platforms of the underground stations entering the ÜSTRA city tram is normally possible without problems. A lot of GVH stops are accessible barrier-free and have an electric cable route for blind persons. Passengers with vision impairments can orient themselves at many city tram stops and suburban railway stops via tactile guidance strips on the floor.
In the ÜSTRA city trams and buses you can always find attendants. They will help passengers during entry and exit or when using the lifts and report problems. The accompanying service is available Monday to Friday between 07:00 a.m. and 07:00 p.m. Announce your request three to four days in advance (on Mondays to Thursdays from 08:00 a.m. to 04:30 p.m., on Fridays from 08:00 a.m. to 03:00 p.m.) under the telephone number +49 511 1668 2693. For more information on the requirements for talking e-scooters visit the ÜSTRA website.
The ÜSTRA passenger escort service can now also be used in parts of the regiobus service area (Hanover and Garbsen). The passenger escort service is available from Monday to Friday between 07:00 a.m. and 07:00 p.m.. For more information, please visit regiobus.de (available in German only).
The regiobus driving personnel will help you with a fold-out ramp. Just talk to the driver before entering the bus. Advance registration is not required. Please note that there is no general guarantee for a conveyance since the number of places for wheelchairs, prams etc. is limited inside the vehicle. Please take also in consideration that call taxis can generally only transport compact aids such as foldable wheelchairs.
If you travel with trains of the Deutsche Bahn within the GVH, the Mobility Service Centre organises everything that needs to be done in order to provide easy access. Passengers with wheelchairs should at best announce their journey three workdays prior to it. This can be done online via the new form (available in German only) or by phone at +49 180 6512-512.
The metronom trains are manned by qualified personnel helping you when entering and leaving. Advance registration is not required but you can announce your journey at +49 581 97164-164 or kundenzentrum@der-metronom.de. In this case the passenger attendant will wait for you at the platform.
Passengers travelling with enno trains can announce their journey previously at +49 581 97164-174 or kundenservice@der-enno.de in order to receive help.
As well in the erixx trains the staff will help you when entering or leaving with a ramp. Passengers are asked to announce their journey least 24 hours before departure at +49 5191 96944-0 or info@erixx.de.
In the trains of WestfalenBahn the train staff is also of help when entering or leaving. Passengers should announce their journey until 05:00 p.m. of the previous day at +49 521 557777-55 or info@westfalenbahn.de.
Practice for passengers with restricted mobility
Some transport companies of the GVH offer special trainings for passengers with restricted mobility in order to make the passengers feel more confident when using the local transport.
To ensure mobility when using your wheelchair, rollator, or pram or in case of visual impairments, the ÜSTRA will support you. It must be ensured that the vehicles and stops are fully accessible. ÜSTRA also offers training days and other services. Further information concerning the next trainings at uestra.de.
Our partner regiobus offers trainings for secure mobility as well. Here you can practice without time pressure how to enter or leave or how to behave in the bus and at the station. The trained regiobus staff helps you, gives tips and answers your questions. Here you will get an impression of the procedure and an overview of the next dates.
