© Münsterland e.V./Christoph Steinweg
© Münsterland e.V./Michael Lemmerhirt
Mobile through the Münsterland
Let's go through the region, which offers all the possibilities of a future-oriented location: It is centrally located in Europe, close to the border with the Netherlands and optimally connected. Whether by bus, train, car, bike or on foot - use the mobility mix and go on a discovery tour!
Münsterland cycling region
Mobile through Münsterland? That's most fun by bike. Because the region not only has so much to offer leisure cyclists on its approximately 4,500 kilometres of cycle paths. Those who like to commute to work by leeze are also in the right place here. There is a good network of cycle paths, good signposting, mostly flat terrain and the cycle route network is constantly being expanded. That's why more than 20 percent of commuters in Münsterland now use bicycles - almost three times as many as the NRW average.
By bus and train through Münsterland
If you want to relax during your journey and value your ecological footprint, it's best to make use of the wide range of bus and train services. There are good rail connections in all directions from the Münsterland region and especially from the Münster regional centre: By rail, you can reach Osnabrück, Bielefeld, Hamm, Dortmund, Recklinghausen and Enschede in the Netherlands with various direct connections. There are also express buses that connect the Münster regional centre with the surrounding area. And offers such as the Westfalentarif, job tickets and trainee tickets make public transport in the region particularly attractive. In rural areas, community buses also connect smaller municipalities with their neighbours.
Would you like to know which town is connected to the rail network and how? Then take a look at the individual local portraits.
And you can find all timetables, route maps and ticket sales points on the homepage Bus & Bahn im Münsterland.
On the road with the car
Especially in rural areas, the car is the means of transport of choice for the people of Münster. And there is a reason for this. Not only are there usually sufficient and free car parking spaces. The motorway connections in Münsterland are also impressive. The A 1, A 31 and A 43 motorways run in a north-south direction, while the A 30 and A 2 complete the picture as east-west tangents. On average, around 70 per cent of commuters in the region use the car for their daily journey to work.
Incidentally, you don't necessarily need your own car for this. The region's car-sharing services are also growing steadily. In Münster and the Münsterland region, you can rent a car via Stadtteilauto or SHARE NOW. In Ahaus and the surrounding area, for example, you can use the provider stattVerbrenner.
Münster/Osnabrück Airport (FMO)
Münster/Osnabrück Airport (FMO) in Greven is of great regional importance as a travel and business airport. From there, you can not only fly to cities like Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt. It also serves many international destinations, for example Mallorca, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Turkey. Climate protection is also important to FMO: it has set itself the goal of being climate-neutral by 2030. Electricity is already being drawn exclusively from renewable sources. FMO is also planning a climate forest with up to 15,000 trees to compensate for CO2 emissions.
But other airports are also within driving distance: The international airport in Düsseldorf is easy to reach by car or train, and the Cologne/Bonn and Dortmund airports are also around two hours away, depending on your starting point.
- Münster not only has a car wash for bicycles, but also a traffic light footboard for cyclists?
- not only the city of Münster can score points with a modern bike station , but also the city of Gronau? The mobile station there has lockable bike boxes, charging stations for pedelec riders and park-ride car parks.
- there is an emission-free scooter sharing system in Münster thanks to the trettys ?
- we have a cross-border citizen bus in Ahaus-Alstätte that travels as far as Haaksbergen in the Netherlands?
- the motorway connections in Münsterland are so good that we are home to the "Logistics location of the year in NRW"? That is Rheine in the district of Steinfurt. The city is connected to the A30 motorway with two junctions; the A30 meets the A31 at the nearby Schüttorf junction in the west and the A30 is connected to the A1 via the Lotte/Osnabrück junction in the east.
- there is an experimental space for mobility in rural areas in Münsterland with the kommit Bürgerlabor Mobiles Münsterland project in the district of Coesfeld? The aim is to encourage people to switch from car to local transport.
- the LOOP project in Münster offers on-demand local transport and other Münsterland municipalities such as Senden and Gronau are also developing similar concepts?
- the MünsterlandExpress X90 serves the Olfen-Lüdinghausen-Senden-Münster axis as an express bus and is faster than regular express bus routes thanks to fewer stops and an optimised route?
The mobility of the future | Projects in Münsterland
Cycle routes
There are various projects to ensure that people can continue to get around the Münsterland region as quickly as possible in the future while protecting the climate. On the one hand, various cycle routes are being developed in the region to create fast and safe cycle path connections between cities and municipalities. In Münster, for example, 13 routes are to run in a star shape from Münster city centre to the surrounding area in future, with the Promenade serving as a distribution ring. The district of Warendorf wants to build on this and connect other places in the district with fast cycle routes.
In the district of Steinfurt, such fast and safe connections are currently being created over a total of 62 kilometres under the project name "Triangle". And the districts of Coesfeld and Borken are planning the Westmünsterland fast cycle route, which will run from Isselburg on the Dutch border to Coesfeld in the centre of western Münsterland.
Sharing models
You only need a car from time to time or just want to spontaneously book a bike at the weekend? This is also possible in Münsterland. There are already car-sharing offers such as those from Stadtteilauto, SHARE NOW or stattVerbrenner. But you can also easily hire a bike in Münsterland with the Rent your MünsterlandRad service. And the sharing offer in Münsterland is constantly being expanded, with new providers being added all the time.
On-demand services, mobility stations, intelligent traffic control
Local transport on demand? This is already possible in Münster with the LOOP service, and there are also concrete plans in Gronau and Senden for 2021. In the future, on-demand services are to be created throughout the region to encourage people to switch from car to public transport.
Mobility stations are also to be created at various locations in the region: There you should be able to use different modes of transport, access offers such as car-sharing or e-bike hire, stock up on everyday necessities and book and pay for them easily using an app.
Among others, the kommit Bürgerlabor Mobiles Münsterland joint project is working intensively on providing the Münsterland region with user-friendly, multimodal mobility beyond motorised private transport in the future.
Questions? Your contact person
Ute Schmidt-Vöcks© Münsterland e.V./Anja Tiwisina
Ute Schmidt-Vöcks© Münsterland e.V./Anja Tiwisina
Mareike Meiring© Münsterland e.V./Anja Tiwisina