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!
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.
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 Westphalia tariff, 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 town portraits.
And you can find all timetables, route maps and ticket sales points on the homepage of Zweckverband Mobilität Münsterland and Regionalverkehr Münsterland GmbH.
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) 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.
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, 14 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 have been realised over a total of 62 kilometres under the project name "Triangle". And the districts of Coesfeld and Borken are planning the Westmünsterland cycle highway, which will run from Isselburg on the Dutch border to Coesfeld in the centre of western Münsterland.
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, wuddi or SHARE NOW. 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.
In rural regions, but also in urban peripheral areas, community buses contribute to the networking and provision of mobility and enable social participation. This is also the case in Münsterland! Here in the region, there are many associations and volunteer drivers who make this possible. Find out more on this page.
Mobility stations are also to be set up 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. There are already four of these in Münster, for example.
Ute Schmidt-Vöcks
