Ulrich Grosse (born 27 March 1953, in

Nagold Nagold is a town in southwestern Germany, bordering the Northern Black Forest. It is located in the ''Landkreis'' (district) of Calw (Germany/Baden-Württemberg). Nagold is known for its ruined castle, Hohennagold Castle, and for its road viaduc ...

in the district of

Calw Calw (; previously pronounced and sometimes spelled ''Kalb'' accordingly) is a town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany, capital and largest town of the district Calw. It is located in the Northern Black Forest and is a ...

) is a German

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

consultant. He was in 1983 one of the first specialists who advised counties in terms of public passenger transport. Numerous transport concepts and the reactivation of a number of railroad tracks are based on his work.

Life and career

Ulrich Grosse grew up in Nagold and studied mathematics and physics at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

. From 1972 to 1982 he represented the city of

in committee meetings of the Regional Association of the

Northern Black Forest The Northern Black Forest (german: Nordschwarzwald) refers to the northern third of the Black Forest in Germany or, less commonly today, to the northern half of this mountain region. Geography The Northern Black Forest is bounded in the north b ...

and the Chamber of Commerce of that region. He was involved in the improvement of transport service on the

Nagold Valley Railway The Nagold Valley Railway (German: ''Nagoldtalbahn'') is a railway line in the northern part of the Black Forest in Germany which links Pforzheim with Horb am Neckar and, for most of its route, follows the valley of the River Nagold. Trains on the ...

. From 1972 he worked with a citizens' initiative to reactivate the Ammertalbahn. In 1978 he became a teacher. In 1984 he succeeded in implementing a new station south of

Balingen Balingen (; Swabian: ''Balenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located near the Swabian Jura, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35 km northeast of Villingen-Schwenn ...

after decades of closure of stations. This was the first time that a new train stop outside of metropolitan areas in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

was opened after a period of closures of railway stations. He argues that public transport should be shifted from road to rail. Traffic by trains and busses along railroad tracks should be interlinked within clock-face schedules. He observed that public passenger transport in the rural community is generally best served by shuttle services to train stations. Thus he advises that bus services should not run in parallel to railroad tracks, but rather serve as a perpendicular feeder to the rail.

References

Article in the ''Spiegel'' news magazine of 1985 about the work of Ulrich Grosse
(in German)
Ulrich Grosse's theses on upccoming public transport planning (2007)
(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Grosse, Ulrich 1953 births Living people Public transport People from Tübingen