Ebbelwei Express

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Ebbelwei Express at the zoo

The Ebbelwei-Express is a special line of the Frankfurt tram . The line was launched in 1977 on the occasion of the imminent shutdown of the last two-axle trams and was supposed to only run for a short time. Thanks to the enormous success, the curiosity has remained to this day. The popular tram owes its name to " Ebbelwei ", which is manufactured in Hessen and served in the car .

business

The VGF is for the line repainted dressing trolley of the K series , which 1954 to 1978 in the regular services were used. There are four railcars 105, 106, 107 and 108 and the six sidecars 1703 , 1705 , 1706 , 1712 , 1723 and 1724 . The line runs on the weekends (between 1.30 p.m. and 7 p.m.) and on most public holidays in the timetable . The vehicles stationed in the Gutleut depot near the main train station can also be rented for private celebrations and excursions. The Ebbelwei-Express is the only Frankfurt tram line on which conductors are still used. Since 1998 it has also been the only line with regular sidecar service. On board, passengers are served cider , apple juice and mineral water as well as mini pretzels. Since April 1, 2007, there has been an absolute smoking ban on the Ebbelwei-Express.

Line course of the Ebbelwei-Express

Line course

The line leads past numerous Frankfurt attractions. The starting and ending point is the Wendeschleife at Frankfurt Zoo . First the Ebbelwei-Express travels through the old town , past the Römer and through the Bahnhofsviertel, which was shaped by the Wilhelminian era , to Frankfurt Central Station . From there he drives on to the fair and festival hall , past the Hammering Man . The train turns in the turning loop at the fair and drives back to the main station, then it crosses the Main and passes through the "Ebbelweiviertel" of Sachsenhausen . Then the route leads back to the northern side of the Main and to the zoo, where a new lap begins after a break of fifteen minutes. Usually two trains are in use, so that a round trip starts every 35 minutes.

During the Wäldchestag (Tuesday after Whitsun ) until 2013, an Ebbelwei-Express railcar operated on the Lieschen special line as a feeder on a normally unused, former route of the Frankfurter Waldbahn between the special station Riedhof (near Stresemannallee / Mörfelder Landstrasse ) and one Makeshift stop just before the regular Oberforsthaus station , as the connection to the route to the stadium has not been passable since 2006.

30 years of the Ebbelwei-Express

For the 30th anniversary (2007), the Frankfurt am Main transport company (VGF ) started a short story competition in cooperation with a regional newspaper. The best 21 student stories about the Ebbelwei-Express were published in the book "Ebbelwei-Express - Please get in and read off".

Use as de-icing vehicles

In January 2013, freezing rain , which formed an insulating layer of ice on the overhead line, paralyzed the network of Frankfurt trams. The VGF used the "sturdy old-timers from the 50s" to scrape off the ice cover of the overhead lines and to tow away newer models that had broken down, the electronics of which proved to be too sensitive to voltage fluctuations.

precursor

As early as the 1930s , there was a city tour line in Frankfurt, the so-called Line 0 . Was used Setup - articulated railcar 394 of the type Dd . Line 0 had a lot in common with today's Ebbelwei Express; Apple wine and pretzels were already served back then, complemented by Haddekuche (Frankfurt gingerbread ). Popular Hessian songs were played by the conductor on a gramophone he was carrying . The route was largely the same as today, with the addition of the Alte Oper and Zeil sights, which were still accessible by tram at the time . In 1939, before the outbreak of World War II , the line was discontinued.

gallery

See also

Web links

Commons : Ebbelwei-Express  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Lieschen says quietly goodbye ( memento of the original from April 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 27, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fnp.de
  2. Overhead lines: The "Ebbelwei" express helps with ice , Die Welt , January 23, 2013.
  3. Daniel Kortschak, Sandra Busch: Oldtimer trams clear icy stretches ( memento from August 25, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ), Frankfurter Rundschau , January 22, 2013.
  4. Why trams don't like icy overhead lines . Lokalbahnhof.net, January 22, 2013.
  5. Only the oldtimers still drove , Frankfurter Neue Presse , January 23, 2013.