Dashed line

Historic route boards of the Brussels tram with line numbers deleted

Stop sign in Liège, bus route 53 is listed once regularly and once deleted

Marseille tram : the permanently installed red metal bars of these two cars look a little bit over the line number display in a horizontal position on the right, if necessary they could overlay it in a diagonal position

As a broken line or crossed line is in tram - trolleybus - and bus networks - and beyond in some suburban railways and the vaporetto system in Venice - a special line called or lines, in which the regular line label with a bar (by) deletedrespectively is deposited. This can be designed as a diagonal bar from bottom left to top right or from top left to bottom right or, in exceptional cases, as a horizontal cross bar. The aim is to one of the non-crossed lineage different, line way are pointed. The horizontal line is usually in a red contrasting color so that it can be seen from afar. If, on the other hand, the line number or the line letter is shown in negative white letters on a dark background, the horizontal line is usually also white.

Alternatively, the line designation is preceded or followed by a slash or backslash for graphical reasons , especially with digital matrix displays . The latter led in many places to the abandonment of the crossed line signals , because on the one hand no red contrasting color can be generated with monochrome displays or on the other hand the coarse image resolution of the initially common flip-dot displays made display difficult. Another variant is the use of one or more additional letters. "Crossed out" lines are known from Belgium , Germany , France , Italy and Romania , and in the past they were also found in Algeria , Greece , Austria , Portugal , Switzerland , Turkey , Hungary and the United States .

In the past, there were also some mechanical devices with which a metal bar could be rotated or pushed in front of the line number if necessary - for example in Hanover , Vienna and as standard on many French trolleybuses and omnibuses.

There is not always a corresponding main line for a crossed-out line. For example, there is a line 18 barat on the Arad tram , but no regular line with this number. Other examples are the short-lived trolleybus line 2 barré in Grenoble , which only ran from 1952 to 1953, or the former line 5 barrato of the Palermo tram .

presentation

The crossed out trolleybus line 1 in the Romanian city of Brașov , the diagonal line is briefly interrupted in the area of the number

A “crossed” route on the Paris bus route 152. In order not to impair the legibility of the line number, the RATP only indicates the diagonal line on the bottom left and top right

The bus line 3 / in Treviso , Italy , due to the relatively coarse image resolution of the matrix display, the slash is added and, moreover, without color contrast

The dashed line 32 in Cluj-Napoca , for graphic reasons, the lowercase letter b for barat , the Romanian equivalent for deleted , replaces the slash

Line overview of the Milan tram from 1942: Because typewriters could not cross out two-digit line names , the deleted line 23 is shown as line 23 br, where the abbreviation br stands for barrato

For technical reasons, each digit on this US bus was crossed out individually on two-digit line numbers

use

Budapest : the light brown diagonal bar indicated until September 2008 that this line goes beyond the city limits

Most of the time, "canceled lines" are repeater trips during rush hour , which only serve a section of their main line. Occasionally it is also about:

Lines that extend beyond the regular endpoint of their stem line
Construction site lines, mostly as a result of route interruptions or line splits
Lines with completely different routing, mostly following the main line
Express bus routes that do not serve all stops
special routes in night traffic
the depot -coming courses
Additional courses without operating and transport obligations , analogous to the so-called e-cars - in this case the route can be exactly identical to the non-crossed line signal

Additional courses with historical vehicles in contrast to regular journeys on the same route

Special services such as the stadium line 9 / the Turin tram

Rail replacement services , with the replacement bus used in sections carrying the line signal that has been deleted

to identify the opposite direction of travel of a ring line

to identify a multiple traction that is winged en route and therefore approaches two different end stations

to identify a short route or diversion or derivation as a result of an operational disruption

to mark lines that go beyond the city limits in order to inform passengers of the correspondingly higher local tariff

Combination with red line numbers

Some cities use red line numbers instead of crossed line numbers . Sometimes both designation systems are combined with one another, whereby five different variants can be observed:

four different line routes with the same number:	In the case of the Naples trolleybus, for example, there were two line bundles 254, ~~254~~ , 254 and ~~254~~ on the one hand and 255, ~~255~~ , 255 and ~~255~~ on the other hand in the 1960s and 1970s .
three different line routes with the same number, including no black line:	In the Rome trolleybus, for example, the three lines 47, 47 and 47 existed from 1957 until operations ceased in 1972 .
three different line routes with the same number, including no dashed red line:	In the Romanian capital Bucharest, for example, three bus routes with the line signals 105, ~~105~~ and 105 operated for two years from 1979 .
two different routes with the same number:	In the existing 1,939 to 1,960 single Brussels trolley bus line existed 54 and a line 54 , with red line numbers in Brussels stood for over the city boundary leading lines with higher suburban fare, the shortened dashed line but already ended before the city limits.
two different routes with the same number:	On the Milan tram, line pairs 28 and 28 as well as 31 and 31 existed at times .

Country overview

Belgium

Course book table 505 of the NMVB / SNCV from 1965/1966, already in the header reference is made to the continuous line L Brussels - Londerzeel and the crossed line L, which only runs to Meise or Wolvertem ( doorstreept / barré )

As early as 1913, that is, only a few years after line numbers were introduced, there were already six line numbers crossed out on the Antwerp tram , Dutch doorstreepte lijnnummers . Contrary to later custom, these lines 3 , 4 , 5 , 7 , 8 and 10 each led a bit beyond the terminus of their main line. On the later overland line 42, there was a further variant of this marking: while courses that were crossed out only ran to Broechem, courses crossed out twice only ran to Wommelgem .

In 2017, deleted line signals in Belgium in the tram sector can only be found in Brussels, where they are used for amplifier services, engaging courses or deviations in the event of operational disruptions. However, regular dashed lines also existed in the past . In addition, line signals that were deleted were also found on the former Brussels trolleybus (see above), and this is still the case with city buses today.

Otherwise, deleted signals in Belgium used to be found on the overland routes operated by the National Small Railroad Company (NMVB / SNCV), including the coastal tram along the North Sea coast, as well as on three other urban trams:

on the Charleroi tram , where until the 2012 line reform, a ligne 84 barré operated only during rush-hour traffic, with no main line 84 available and lines 88 and 89 each also had a deleted variant

on the Ghent tram until the line network was realigned on July 2, 1984

at the former Verviers tram

Furthermore, the successor company Transport en Commun (TEC) , which emerged from the NMVB / SNCV in the Walloon Region, continues to use deleted line signals for its bus services to this day. In 2017, for example, in the Mons region these were lines 8 /, 11 /, 14 /, 15 /, 16 /, 19 /, 27 /, 34 /, 37 / and 134 /, in Tournai the line Z / and in Liège the Lines 80 \ and 94 \. A special feature of Liège is the use of the backslash instead of the slash.

Crossed out line signal on a historic car in Antwerp
Brussels: Line 90 car moving in with the line signal deleted, in this case the very last trip on this line
Brussels: Matrix display with correctly displayed slash, 2008
An NMVB / SNCV small rail car on the canceled line G, 1977
The former "canceled line" 1 of the coastal tram, 1982
Verviers: if the staff tilted the regular line sign in the foreground forwards, the normally concealed, painted variant came to light

Germany

Leipzig

The Great Leipzig Tram (GLSt) introduced painted lines as early as May 1906, when the colored line discs were abolished. From then on, scheduled deployment lines that only covered a section of their main line ran with a red diagonal line above the black line letter on a white background. This marking lasted until December 23, 1912, when a red head disk with a white border without a specific line designation was introduced for emergency vehicles.

Regardless existed in Leipzig from October 10, 1912 also a dashed line R of Anger-Crottendorf to the main station , which then already on 11 November 1913 as the diameter line to Gohlis-Nord has been extended. Trains without a line, on the other hand, only ran as a radial line between Anger-Crottendorf and Augustusplatz . In contrast to the above-mentioned deployment lines, the dashed line R operated all day, with a canceled and a non-canceled course alternating. On January 1, 1920, line 20 finally replaced the deleted line R. There was also a deleted line D according to the same scheme. It served the Nordplatz / Roscherstraße - Connewitz route from November 11, 1913 , while the regular line D the longer route from Gohlis-Nord to Dölitz . The deleted line D was replaced by line C on May 21, 1914.

Hanover

Hanover: a train from the canceled line 10 in 2015

Both the regular and the canceled line 10 are listed at the Leinaustraße stop, although they have the same destination out of town

The Hanover tram introduced deleted line numbers in the interwar period. From October 1, 1930, the canceled line 6 between Stöcken and Aegidientorplatz operated there , and numerous others followed in later years. At the same time, e-cars were also marked in this way.

The so-called HAWA steel wagons, built between 1928 and 1930 , had a mechanical device built into the driver's cab as standard , specifically for signposting the crossed line signals . The red crossbar, which in this case was horizontal for technical reasons, was normally pulled up by a spring and was in the idle state outside the field of view of the line number display. If necessary, the staff could pull it down with a lockable push handle, whereupon the bar halfway up the display superimposed the black number on a white background. After the end of the mission as a dashed line, the driver released the push handle from the lock again, whereupon the bar snapped upwards due to the spring force.

Due to the central position of the bar, which is reminiscent of a fraction line , dashed lines are colloquially referred to in Hanover as half lines (numbers) . Only with the articulated wagons of the type TW 6000 procured from the mid-1970s did the internationally common slash find its way into Hanover. The reason for this was the first time the line number was displayed in negative font, in which the longer diagonal bar stood out better against the black background than would have been the case with the shorter horizontal bars. With the introduction of matrix displays, Hanover finally returned to the horizontal bar.

In 2018, the Hanover Stadtbahn, which emerged from the previous tram, was the last regular canceled line, half the 10th . This is a different route from regular line 10, practiced in so-called night star traffic . In addition, between Alte Heide and Peiner Strasse - but only in this direction of travel - part of the courses on line 2 are also signposted as half a line . These are those trains on which the front car continues from the Peiner Straße stop as regular line 2 to Rethen in what is known as Y traffic , but the rear car runs from there as line 8 to Messe / Nord. This mode of operation is limited to off-peak hours, i.e. on weekdays from around 9:00 p.m. and all day on Sundays and public holidays. A third regular application of the crossed line signal is found in the midday repeater train on line 1, which on school days travels from the Döhren depot to Sarstedt and then returns to Döhren.

Rhein-Ruhr transport association

A car on Duisburg line 901 with the line signal painted in May 1987

In North Rhine-Westphalia , line numbers for line-bound e-cars were painted red until the introduction of matrix displays at the Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft (DVG), the Düsseldorf Rheinbahn and the Essener Verkehrs-AG (EVAG). As in Hanover, the horizontal line was also executed. However, in Duisburg and Düsseldorf he divided the ad into a third above and two thirds below the line, in Essen, however, it was arranged slightly below the middle of the ad.

The three companies mentioned introduced the deleted numbers on January 1, 1980, when all local transport companies in this area were integrated into the new Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and their lines were assigned new three-digit numbers on this occasion. In Dusseldorf, for example, line signal E1 became line signal ~~701~~ , in this way those responsible avoided four-digit line names. For technical reasons, for example, these could not have been displayed at all, for example with the three-field roll-up line number displays that were widespread in the buses of the time.

Karlsruhe

The Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG) used to mark its express trains on line A with an additional red slash. Originally it was a red triangle, which means that in addition to the diagonal slash, the lower and right edges of the display were marked in red. Later, only a red diagonal bar was used, whereby the line letter A - now placed in the top left corner of the display - was a little smaller and was therefore no longer crossed out. With the renaming of line A to line S1 / S11 on the occasion of the integration into the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund and the Karlsruhe urban railway network in 1994 , the express train marking with a red line was omitted.

In addition to the red triangle or the red line, the trains in question were also marked with the additional note "EILZUG" in white letters on a red background. With the older type GT8-EP , this identification was still attached to the outside by means of a magnetic sign, only in the light rail vehicles of the types GT6-80C and GT8-80C procured from 1983 the addition "EILZUG" was integrated into the destination display.

A GT8-EP from AVG, the red line indicates the express train type
Two more modern GT6-80C from AVG, the left is signposted as an express train and the right as a regular train on line A.

Berlin

The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe BVG, on the other hand, marked its excursion bus routes 6 to Pfaueninsel and 7 to Lichtenrade as well as the HVZ route 97E between Hakenfelde and Heerstraße / Reimerweg at the stops as canceled lines until the introduction of three-digit line numbers in 1991 . Here, sported the flag stops were called stops tab marked in green letters on a yellow background with an additional red diagonal line.

Hamm

In the Westphalian town of Hamm , the express bus line 9 to Bockum-Hövel had a crossed line signal with a red slash from July 1, 1951, although there was no regular line 9.

Austria

Vienna: a "deleted" line D in 1978

On the Vienna tram , from 1927 onwards, in addition to entry journeys, spontaneous short tours or diversions or diversions as a result of operational disruptions were marked with a crossed line signal. The staff briefly covered the regular sheet metal line signal with a rotating cover bar. For this purpose, it was turned into an inclined position - from its usual vertical and therefore invisible position. The crossed line signals were first introduced on line E ₂ and then - after the signal discs had been equipped with the necessary devices - gradually extended to the entire network. In an internal service instruction from January 1927 it said:

"In order to enable tram passengers to recognize drawn-in trains that do not reach the end of the line or do not take the usual route from a distance, the letters or numbers of the line signal on the roof of the railcar of such trains are crossed by a crossbar. From Monday the 24th of M. an will begin with this new introduction for the drafted trains of line E _2. " - Internal instructions for the Vienna tram from January 1927

In the timetable book of 1928, the corresponding official declaration read:

"Line signals with a crossbar indicate that the train will not reach the end of the line." - Timetable book of the Vienna tram from 1928, page 10

In the 1950s, the use of the canceled signal finally changed. From then on it no longer stood for entry journeys or spontaneous route changes, but for planned shortened routes over a longer period of time. These include, for example , line 78 between April and September 1954 - shortened due to the construction of the Rotunda Bridge - and, from 1955, line E ~~_2,~~ which ran to Marsanogasse instead of Praterstern . This practice existed in Vienna until January 3, 1984, when the regular line J was shortened to Bösendorfer Strasse and the "deleted line" ~~J was~~ discontinued. From July 4, 1993 to August 14, 1993, there was a temporary “canceled line” J , which commuted between Ottakring and Josefstädter Straße, due to the construction site.

The “canceled” line G of the Vienna Electric Light Rail, 1977

In addition, the Viennese electric light rail system knew between 1976 and 1978 a "canceled" line G between Heiligenstadt and Währinger Straße. This was a temporary shortened tour of the long-term G line between Heiligenstadt and Hütteldorf or Meidling, which did not run at all during this time. In addition, between 1927 and 1945 those through cars of the mixed tram and light rail line 18G that only went as far as Severingasse had a canceled signal.

The very last "painted" line of Wiener Linien was the only Allerheiligenverkehr on November 1 and on Christmas Eve circulating bus ~~39A~~ to Sieveringer cemetery . It was introduced on November 1, 1985 and operated on the regular route 39A. On November 1, 2012, it was finally renamed line 39B, which means that it last operated on December 24, 2011.

Outside Vienna, canceled line signals could only be observed on the Linz tram . From 1985 onwards, line signals that were canceled were used for the various short tours of Line 1 - which until then ran as Line 2 - as well as for entry journeys. With the switch to matrix displays in the mid-2000s, this marking ended again and was replaced by a star following the line signal.

Portugal

In Portugal, deleted line numbers used to be found on short-run and indenting courses on the Lisbon tram .

Switzerland

In the Bern – Solothurn regional traffic (RBS), the four suburban lines emanating from Bern, which have been integrated into the Bern S-Bahn since 2004, ran from 1974 onwards , some with deleted line letters: Line J to Jegenstorf, Line J only to Urtenen; Line S to Solothurn, Line S only to Jegenstorf or Zollikofen; Line W to Worb, line W only to Ittigen. The same applied from 1987 to Line G to Worb, whose short courses as far as Gümligen were signposted as Line G until 2010 when the route was integrated into the Bern tram network .

The Geneva tramway had the two “deleted” lines 14 and 17 with a shortened route from December 9, 2007 until the network reform of December 11, 2011 , they supplemented or replaced the longer main lines 14 and 17. However, they existed in Geneva in earlier years further line numbers that have been crossed out, partly also combined with red line numbers. In addition, red diagonal bars on the Basel tram used to indicate that the route had not been taken to the final stop, and line signals were also shown on the Lausanne tram .

Turkey

In Turkey, deleted line numbers used to be found on the Istanbul tram .

United States

The Chicago Transit Authority's repainted trolleybus route 80 , 1968

In the United States, for example, deleted line numbers used to be found in Boston , Chicago, and Philadelphia .

variants

A so-called factory trip without passengers in Würzburg

On the Freiburg im Breisgau tram , both entry and exit journeys as well as operating journeys without passenger transport are marked with a red slash on a white background, which completely replaces the line number. The Würzburg tram uses the same marking, but only for operational trips.

In Rome, in the past, crossed lines were used alongside dashed lines. So there were the tram lines 13 and 35 at times in three variants, that is regular, painted and crossed. Compared to the dashed lines, the crossed lines covered an even shorter distance. Alternatively, instead of the crossing, an X followed by the line number in red was used, for example on the 93 crociato bus route or 93 X in the 1960s.

On the Neuchâtel tram , line numbers that were deleted were used as additional identification for a preceding train in subsequent train operations . Analogous to the actual follow-up board, a circular green sheet metal disc with a white diagonal bar, the black line number was also highlighted in green and painted with a white diagonal bar. However, this variant was only found in the four articulated railcars with road numbers 1101 to 1104 that were taken over from Genoa in 1962 .

The former Compagnie des tramways électriques de Lille et sa banlieue (TELB) varied the color of the diagonal stroke on certain lines. This could be red, green or blue and indicated a different route.