Local railway Innsbruck – Hall in Tirol

Local railway Innsbruck – Hall in Tirol
Route length:	12,143 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	600/1200 volts  =
Maximum slope :	25  ‰
Minimum radius :	50 m
Legend Bergiselbahnhof (terminus until 1929) Arlbergbahn (level crossing until 1955) Wiltener Platzl (terminus 1929 to 1939) from and to the Westbahnhof (until 1938) School alley Hauptbahnhof (terminus from 1939) Salurnerstrasse (from 1939) Triumphal Gate (until 1939) Leopoldstrasse / Triumphpforte junction from the main post office (until 1938) Maximilianstrasse / Triumphpforte junction Anichstraße junction, from and to the Westbahnhof Maria-Theresien-Strasse Burggraben / Marktgraben Stainerstraße (until 1939) Marktgraben (until 1939) Museumstrasse Inn Bridge (until 1939) Brunecker Strasse Junction Brunecker Straße to Pradl Junction Brunecker Straße from Pradl Hofgarten (until 1939) Federal Railway Directorate Commercial Academy (until 1939) Schuhmanngasse (until 1939) Haydnplatz Rennweg / Siebererstraße / Falkstraße Hungerburgbahn (towards the city) Falkstrasse junction Falkstrasse junction Hungerburgbahn (out of town) Chain Bridge over the Inn Loden factory Kufstein – Innsbruck railway line Workers bakery Reichenau Bridge New Rum shooting range Rumer Hof Thaur Haller Au Loretto Lorettobrücke over the Kufstein – Innsbruck railway line Tube works Kugelanger Solbad Hall lower town square

The local railway Innsbruck – Hall in Tirol , also called Hallerbahn , Haller , old Haller or - according to the line number used from 1909 - called Vierer , was a meter- gauge narrow - gauge railway . It connected the Tyrolean capital Innsbruck with the surrounding communities of Rum , Thaur and Hall . The Innsbruck tram network later developed from the local railway , which was operated by the company of the same name .

history

Planning and construction

There were already plans for a railway line from Munich to Innsbruck in the 1830s . However, the project stalled and was only implemented in 1866 with the construction of the Brenner Railway . In order to gain experience with railway construction in Tyrol, a railway line between Innsbruck and Hall was proposed. It should have its starting point at the toll building - where the Dogana stands today -, lead to the armory , and there cross the Sill and immediately afterwards the Inn and follow the Reichsstraße to Hall. There it should have a connection to the Inn shipping , which had its transshipment point there. However, this project never reached the planning stage.

In 1887 the plan was finally resumed to run a local railway from Innsbruck to Hall. The planned narrow-gauge railway was to be operated partly with horses and partly with steam traction and possibly extended to Wilten in the south, which was still independent until 1904 . The four investors, the banker Louis Hirsch , the gas works owner August Riedinger , Hermann Ritter von Schwind and the owner of the Gasthof Dollinger Anton Prantl, received the approval to carry out preliminary technical work in November.

Around a year later, in November 1888, the license was finally applied for . The lower town square in Hall, near which a locomotive shed and the administration building should also be located, was planned as the starting point for the railway. From there, the route of the Salzburgerstrasse (today Hallerstrasse or Bundesstrasse) should lead along through the municipalities of Thaur, Rum, Arzl and Mühlau . A small locomotive shed and a water station were planned at the Dollinger Inn. Then the route should cross the Inn at the Chain Bridge, and lead through the Saggen , which is currently under construction , along the Hofgarten to Rennweg and then cross the English Garden over the Herzog-Otto-Ufer and reach the Innbrücke . Via the Marktgraben, Maria-Theresien-Straße and Bozner Platz , the former Südbahnhof (now the main train station ) should be reached, where the final stop should be in front of the Hotel Tyrol. At this point it was already clear that the operation should be managed solely with steam locomotives. In September 1889 the concession was finally granted for a period of 90 years. The railway was to be built within two years. Construction should begin at the country house, from where a branch line should also lead to Wilten. The largest gradient should be 25 per thousand and the smallest curve radius 30 meters. The company negotiated a contract with the city of Innsbruck that provided for free use of the streets by the local railway. The Hofärar objected to the running of the railway through the English Garden, which meant that the railway had to follow Rennweg to the toll house, and only then could it turn to Herzog-Otto-Ufer. At the beginning of 1890, the plan to build the branch line from Maria-Theresien-Straße to the Südbahnhof was dropped, but the line to Bergisel was implemented immediately. This was requested by the mayor at the time, Heinrich Falk, in order to save the day trippers having to walk through Leopoldstrasse.

On May 21, 1890, the route was politically inspected. The Wilten mayor demanded that the route through Wilten should be operated with horses in order to reduce the risk of fire. At the very least, however, low-noise steam locomotives should be used so as not to disturb draft animals from wagons. The terminus was planned in front of the Bierstindl inn , which could also be used as a waiting room. The construction was further delayed because the route along Hallerstrasse had to be rescheduled several times. While the Thaur farmers demanded in the previous year that the railway line should run north of the Reichsstraße, they now demanded that the line should run on its south side. The concessionaires suffered the biggest setback when the planned plot of land for the depot and workshops in Saggen could not be acquired. As a result, the timetables and train crossings had to be revised. In mid-1890, an agreement was reached with the mayor of Wilten that the route should not be led to the Bierstindl, but should end a little earlier at Brennerstrasse. It was also planned to build the depot and workshops between today's Klostergasse and Brennerstrasse. In addition, plans had to be rescheduled in Saggen. While there were hardly any houses left in 1888, numerous villas have been built in the meantime. The railway line had to be aligned with the newly built roads. It was also decided now to run the local railway on the southern side of the Reichsstrasse to Hall itself. For this, however, the local railway company also had to maintain the road.

On October 30, 1890, the first official test run of a steam locomotive between Mühlau and Loretto took place, with the machine reaching 40 km / h. For this operation before the official operating license, von Schwind, who represented the local railway consortium externally, received a reprimand from the ministry. Since he was a nobleman, this did not entail any further measures than delaying the construction. But this was not the only mistake on his part. In December there were building negotiations for the car depot and office building. However, the buildings were already completed and deviated from the submission plans.

At the beginning of May 1891, von Schwind asked the city to issue traffic regulations for the streets through which the local railway ran. The material trains operated during construction showed that numerous carts were repeatedly parked on the rails or that people kept too little distance and accidents could only just be avoided. The local railway was originally supposed to open on May 16, 1891. However, no timetables, tariffs and service regulations have yet been submitted to the ministry, which means that the operating license has not been granted. On May 20, the police checked. However, since kilometer posts, border marks and warning signs were missing, the review was postponed by two weeks. The safety system at the level crossing with the southern runway at Loretto was also inadequate. The signal from the southern runway showed red, while the signal from the local train next to it showed green at the same time. Thereupon the green light of the local railway was replaced by a blue one.

Steam era (1891–1909)

Factory photo of locomotive 2

Train after arriving at Bergisel station

Train in Falkstrasse towards Hall

On June 1, 1891, the local railway was finally opened without waiting for an operating license. For the time being, the train ran every hour. At this point in time, the local railway already had four locomotives, nine passenger cars and two boxcars. Six more passenger cars have already been ordered. The route was 12.143 kilometers long and a trip in the city of Innsbruck cost five cruisers, the trip to a neighboring municipality eight cruisers, and was two cruisers more expensive for each additional municipality.

Initially, the railway was allowed to travel 25 km / h on its own tracks, 10 km / h within the localities and 18 km / h outside during the day and 12 km / h at night. At the beginning of September, the speed limit at night was raised to 18 km / h. In 1892 two more locomotives were delivered. In future, a half-hourly service to Hall should be aimed for, which is why the local railway began building a siding in Thaur, again without a permit, which led to numerous improvements. Due to the installation of canals, cables and gas lines in Innsbrucker Strasse, the level of the tracks had dropped sharply a year after the opening. However, the local railway company was contractually obliged to re-level the route one year after it was opened. However, this happened without the consent of the city, as a result of which some of the tracks protruded up to eight centimeters above street level and cart traffic came to a standstill in some places. The rainwater could no longer run off, which also caused damage to the track structure. The company tried to sue the city for damages. In mid-May, the Thaur siding went into operation without an operating license, which in turn resulted in a lawsuit from Schwind, albeit without consequences. In addition, four open observation cars were ordered in May. Finally, in November it came to the final approval of the web.

In the winter of 1893, the communities of Arzl, Rum, Thaur and Absam complained that the local railway company was not fulfilling its duty to maintain the road and that the snow was even being cleared from the route onto the road. This led to the fact that the line should now be relocated next to the road, which means that the local railway would no longer have been responsible for road maintenance. At that time, 180 trains ran weekly in winter and 302 in summer. In May, a track was moved from the Saggen stop to the exhibition grounds (trade fair), on which a through carriage with a horse was pulled. However, the operation turned out to be far from being profitable, which is why it was soon discontinued. On June 17, 1893, the Localbahn Innsbruck - Hall in Tirol company (LBIHiT for short, popularly known as Slow, I am corrupted at speed ) was founded. On September 28, Emperor Franz Joseph I visited Innsbruck. He took the local railway to the state shooting range, for which the company converted a sidecar into a saloon car and equipped it with upholstered seats, among other things. This car was still used by officers of the Hall garrison in the following years. In 1893 five more passenger cars and one freight car were ordered; the latter could also be used as an optional car for passenger transport.

The traffic was satisfactory for the next few years; due to overcrowded trains, two more identically constructed locomotives and six identically constructed sidecars were ordered in 1900, which went into operation in early 1901. At the end of 1902, a start was made on enlarging the locomotive shed at Bergiselbahnhof so that the machines of the Mittelgebirgsbahn (IMB) could also be placed there. In October 1905, a third track was laid in the northern Maria-Theresien-Strasse to allow for the parallel traffic with the tram. At the beginning of 1906 the local railway company was invited to work on a project to build the village railway via the MARTHA villages to Mils . This refused, however, because they feared competition with their own local railway. Since the capacity of the tram vehicles was insufficient, the first trailer cars (initially open summer cars ) of the local railway were equipped for electrical operation. For this purpose, they were retrofitted with solenoid brakes , electrical lighting and protective frames around the chassis, among other things .

Due to rising coal prices, the conversion of the local railway to electrical operation was considered for the first time in the summer of 1906. In March 1907, the Hall community complained that the local railway's passenger vehicles were no longer up to date. Nevertheless, the vehicles remained in service for another 67 years. The electrification also took on more and more concrete plans, but the Inn Bridge in Mühlau first had to be strengthened for operation with electric railcars. Furthermore, the maximum speed on the route has been increased to 30 km / h. In April 1908 a contract was signed with AEG for the electrification of the local railway. In addition, a concession was acquired to connect St. Nikolaus and Mariahilf by tram in order to reduce public interest in the village railway. From the beginning of 1909, further vehicles were adapted for electric operation. The local railway company also considered buying the low mountain range railway in order to be able to electrify it together with the local railway. In addition, the Vignole rails and the sleepers along the route were reinforced.

As of August 1909, the Bergisel – Landesschießstand section (roughly at the level of the Reichenau Bridge ) was operated electrically. At the shooting range, passengers had to switch to the steam trains. Eight new four-axle railcars and an electric, non-self-propelled snow turn were purchased from the Grazer Waggonfabrik for electrical operation . In November, the line numbers were finally introduced in Innsbruck, with the local railway being assigned the number 4.

Electrification and the First World War (1909–1918)

The new railcars ran in the city with the voltage of the tram at 500 volts and on the overland route to Hall with 1000 volts. For this purpose, the vehicles had a changeover switch that changed the series connection of the heaters and lightbulbs so that they did not get too much voltage (the changeover switch was automatically switched to 1000 volts when there was no voltage, so that there were no problems between 500 and 1000 volts when the isolator was driven over) . Furthermore, the sidecars had to be converted from a suction air brake to a compressed air brake , as the railcars provided compressed air via an axle compressor. The color scheme of white / red vehicles that was valid until the mid-1970s was also introduced with the new railcars. The line's substation was in Wilten near Neuhauserstrasse, today's Duilestrasse. The feed was located approximately at the level of the smoke mill. However, the power supply at the end of the route caused voltage drops , which meant that the travel time could not be maintained for the time being. In order to accelerate the railcars, a field weakening was installed.

On January 6, 1910, steam operation on the local railway was finally stopped. At the same time, the line was re-licensed from a local railway to a tram with the discontinuation of steam operation. In 1910 a new numbering scheme was introduced at the local railway and all vehicles were renumbered to avoid double occupancy. For example, there was a railcar "1" and a sidecar "1", from 1910 the sidecars had 100s and the freight wagons 200s, the railcars kept their names. In the following year the local railway's steam locomotives were finally decommissioned and sold.

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the personnel situation of the local railway company worsened. There was a reduction in services on the tram lines, while the local train was still running regularly. However, the staff only got a day off every two weeks, and the windows of the vehicles had to be closed when crossing the Inn Bridge, as there was fear of sabotage. From mid-1915, women were also allowed to work on the railroad for the first time to compensate for the shortage of staff. However, so-called driving masters had the supervision on routes on which women worked as drivers. Since copper became a scarce commodity during the war, motor coils made of aluminum were used and the copper contact wire was replaced by an iron one over stock tracks . The horsehair cushions of the axle bearings were replaced by sawdust, the metal parts of freight cars were only allowed to be painted with tar , and the floors of all vehicles were only allowed to be coated with carbolineum . In 1916 the local railway ran into financial difficulties and was supported by the city. The covered freight wagons of the railway were converted for ambulance and wounded transport.

In 1917 five small Haller sidecars or four large city sidecars were used on the Haller line to cope with the number of passengers. However, this led to problems in the swerve, as only four small sidecars were regularly driven. More and more goods transports were handled by the local railway. In 1917, for example, the civil freight traffic was stopped and the local railway workshops (which also received orders from many other companies, as well as refurbished locomotives from other companies for the field transport management) produced two long freight wagons on their own . Due to the mostly single-track lines, there were massive delays in operation. Line 4 could only be operated to Hall every hour due to engine defects. Untrained personnel increased the wear and tear on the vehicles. At the beginning of 1918, a railcar driver disregarded the stopping order at the level crossing with the state railway near Loretto, whereupon there was a collision and the local railcar was badly damaged. The field transport management procured three steam locomotives of the Geneva tram for the transport of the wounded, which were made available to the local railway, arrived in Innsbruck and were tested, but never went into operation. The vehicles were so overcrowded that driving on the roofs had to be explicitly forbidden by the ministry. After the end of the war in November, many employees left the local railway, which made operations questionable.

Interwar period (1919–1938)

By mid-1919, operations could be completed again as planned. So the electric brakes could be used again, which were only allowed to be used for emergency braking during the war to protect the engine. By the end of the year, a staff council - which was banned in the monarchy - had been established and the first negotiations to improve the position of the staff took place. Since many employees of the local railway lived below the subsistence level, a wage increase was demanded in early 1920. At that time, the wages were linked to the profits of the local railway. The director at the time suggested laying off staff and extending working hours so that the remaining staff could receive more salaries. The local railway company itself had financial problems at that time. In order to be able to pay out the dividend demanded by Mayor Greil , a loan had to be taken out. The double-track expansion of the city line of the local railway came to a standstill due to these financial problems. A new carriage shed was built between Klostergasse and Brennerbahn, but it could not be connected to the network because the tracks were too expensive. In 1921 there were numerous wage increases to boost income again. Around a third of the planned posts were vacant. In addition, there was a strike in April that brought the local railway to the brink of collapse, whereupon the city had to support society with a grant. So many employees had left the local railway by the middle of the year that some lines of the tram operated by the local railway had to be closed. As a result, the company was again subsidized by the city, as the city found that the company's operation would cost the city less than if the company went bankrupt and the tram was dismantled. Nevertheless, no more salaries could be paid out at the end of the year.

At the beginning of 1922, the high level of debt of the local railway company led to the idea of ​​discontinuing the trams and local trains. The drivers work 11.5 hours a day, which resulted in strikes all year round. The railway company should have been seized in May, but this was not legally possible. Thanks to the income from the Hungerburg Railway and the local railway workshop, which carries out external orders, operations could be maintained. At the beginning of January 1923 the condition of the infrastructure was so catastrophic that it was threatened with closure. The buffer accumulators were at the end of their life. If two local trains stopped at the same time, the power grid collapsed. Contact lines and tracks were extremely worn. By the middle of the year, however, the economic situation had improved to such an extent that the deficits of previous years could be offset. As a result, it has now also been possible to improve employee pay. At the beginning of 1924, the local railway workshop was outsourced for accounting purposes, as the workshop itself had a high turnover due to orders from third parties.

In 1926 the discontinuation of the local railway in favor of a wider Hallerstrasse was considered for the first time. The discussions about the road expansion influenced the local railway to the effect that diversions, which were necessary to accelerate the railway, were not built in the coming years because they wanted to wait for the decision.

On July 5, 1927, the local railway company bought the Innsbruck Mittelgebirgsbahn . In the same year, the local railway began to prepare for the conversion of road traffic to right-hand traffic . Despite the good business situation at the beginning of 1928, savings were made everywhere. The population wanted more modern sidecars, but these were never procured. The city also urged the local railway to install radiators in the sidecars, which had been expanded to save electricity. With reference to hygienic reasons, no radiators were installed. The money saved was to flow into the dividend on the one hand, as well as on maintaining the route, which was still in very poor condition. In addition, the funds were to be used to upgrade the twin-engine railcars with two additional motors each (the circuit for this was already planned when the railcars were purchased) so that no new railcars for the electrification of the low mountain range would have to be purchased. Finally, in 1928, the Schießstand and Thauer turnouts were relocated due to the widening of Hallerstrasse. The increasing bus traffic led to declining income for the local railway. In addition, the local railway had to pay for the asphalting of the new Hallerstrasse. These additional costs drove the company to close to bankruptcy again by the middle of the year. In order not to have to keep the dividend too low, the modernizations planned at the beginning of the year were waived. Due to the poor superstructure , two engine housings were irreparably damaged and a sidecar platform also broke down due to material fatigue. The poor track position of the local railway led to swaying vehicles, so that the brackets often derailed and broke. In order to save, ways were sought to save car runs. So the local train ran regularly with four trains up to now. These should be reduced to three. It was also considered to drive faster on the route. However, the motorization turned out to be too weak for this (so the maximum line speed of 30 km / h could rarely be reached by the railcars), and the narrow exits and entrances delayed the passenger change too much. As a possible alternative, relocating the terminus from Bergisel train station to Wiltener Platzl was considered, where a loop should be built to save the time required for coupling. Also, three four-axle railcars should have been converted into sidecars, and three other railcars with their engines were converted into four-engine railcars. The image of the local railway suffered from all this. The trains were delayed, outdated, often crowded and slow, while the drivers were unfriendly. Sometimes trains could only be run without a sidecar, since conductors did not appear on duty.

With the changeover to the winter timetable in 1929, the local line was shortened for the first time to Wiltener Platzl. Meanwhile, the board of directors had a dispute over the payment of the dividend. The city demanded that the dividend should not be paid this year and that the local railway should be renovated instead. Directors, meanwhile, demanded that staff qualifications, driving and business bonuses should be reduced, and that the dividend should be increased instead. In order to save the pension contribution, employees should be terminated after the second year of service and then re-employed at their initial pay. In December 1929, the local railway was able to buy itself completely free of the obligation to maintain Hallerstrasse. Furthermore, electrical point controls were largely installed in the city so that the point attendants could be saved. The control of the turnouts functioned depending on the current: If a railcar drove with power consumption via the switching element attached to the overhead line , the turnout switched to the left, otherwise to the right. Because of the disputes over wages, the staff stopped working overtime and didn't postpone days off. As a result, sidecars could almost no longer be run, and the local railway sometimes had to use buses for replacement rail services in order to maintain operations.

On April 2, 1930, right-hand traffic (on the local railway and on the street) was introduced, which means that right-hand traffic was now crossed in the turnouts. In the end, four kilometers of track on the overland route could also be swapped this year, and in 1931 another 1.3 kilometers. As a result, it was possible to drive faster on large parts of the route from mid-1931 and the timetable could be tightened. However, the problem now emerged that the vehicles were unsuitable for operation and underpowered. The travel time for a train with four sidecars was increased by up to six minutes, while the travel time for trains without a sidecar was shortened by the same amount. The feeds at the end of the feed sections or the route also caused problems. Nevertheless, the volume of traffic on the route increased significantly. For this reason, consideration was given to increasing the cycle or running several sets at the same time, as well as building a feed line on the overland route. However, there was already no money to buy a rectifier and by early 1932 the batteries were in such bad condition that the 600 V battery finally failed. In the middle of the year, the first Haller railcar was equipped with two more engines, making it four-engine. This was done with a view to the electrification of the low mountain range, as the vehicles should also be used on its mountain route. In the middle of 1932 a feed line to Rum was built, with which the long trains could keep the travel time. Price increases led to a massive drop in passenger numbers. The passengers preferred to take the state railway to Hall, which offered the cheaper tariff on the route.

In 1933, the local railway's thousand-mark barrier caused problems because holidaymakers stayed away from Germany. Wealthy holidaymakers, including those from other nations, have already traveled by car themselves. In 1934 the color of the signals was matched to that of the BBÖ . So far, white was free and caution was used with green, then with green / yellow. In this and the following year 1935 the volume of traffic continued to decline. In the following years, the converters for generating the direct voltage were replaced by rectifiers. However, these initially disrupted the telephone network in Innsbruck, which resulted in repeated restrictions from the ministry until 1938.

Due to the " connection " to the German Reich and the power of joy vacationers, there was a significant increase in passengers. Retired drivers also had to be hired again in order to be able to provide the necessary capacities. At the end of the year, plans were made to widen Hallerstraße by the state administration. The Hallerstrasse should have been converted to trolleybus operation . However, the local train company noted that trolleybuses could not offer the necessary capacity.

The Second World War (1939-1945)

In May 1939, the local railway de Kraftverkehr Innsbruck, which had operated numerous bus routes in competition with the local railway and trams. Since the Rennweg was raised to the main access road, the local railway tracks had to be removed there, which happened in mid-July. From now on, line 4 used the tracks of line 1 from Maria-Theresien-Straße through the Saggen to get to the Mühlauer Brücke. In August the new Mühlauer Bridge was completed and the local railway now crossed the Inn on its own lane on the road bridge, which means that the old local railway bridge, which was to be rebuilt as a pedestrian bridge further downstream, was scrapped. The top two speed levels of the four-engine railcars were blocked at the beginning of 1940, as this meant that driving speeds that were too high could be achieved on the flat stretch of the local railway. In the middle of the year new vehicles were requested from the ministry, as it was expected that the vehicle fleet would last for a maximum of two years due to its obsolescence (in fact it lasted for over 30 years). Standard trams from AEG and MAN were planned . The order was set with a delivery time of 16 months. In December, two four-engine railcars were badly damaged in an accident on the low mountain range, and in early 1941 there was an accident at Loretto, with railcar 6 colliding with the BBÖ. This led to a vehicle bottleneck. The railcars 1 and 5 were retrofitted with already delivered spare parts (driving switches, motors, roof resistors) of the standard railcars, so that these two vehicles now also had more power. Only railcar 6 had the original electrical system until it was shut down.

Since the local railway company in the meantime not only consisted of the actual line to Hall, but also ran all inner-city traffic, on October 27, 1941, the company's name was changed to Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe . From December 1943, the local railway had to repeatedly interrupt operations due to air raids . Sometimes trains were only run between Mühlau and Hall, depending on the progress of the repair of the tracks in the city. Otherwise rail replacement traffic operated on the destroyed sections of the route. Line 4 was also repeatedly routed to the old stop at Wiltener Platz as a war measure in the event that the route via the station was interrupted. On June 13, 1944, the Bergisel train station was badly hit in a bomb attack, and the administration building and some coach houses were destroyed. However, operations on the local railway were not additionally affected. In addition to the damage to the operating facilities and the tram vehicles, five sidecars of the local railway (two of them irreparable) were destroyed by the attacks. On July 31, 1945, the level crossing at Loretto was put back into operation, making the line to Hall passable again.

Post-war period and recruitment (1946–1974)

Railcar 4 at Innsbruck Central Station (1971)

Train in the direction of Innsbruck at the Thaur siding (1974)

Train at Lower Town Square in Hall (1974)

The last damage to the company buildings on Bergisel was repaired by 1947. In 1952, the transport company wanted to run line 4 every 15 minutes, but this would have required more vehicles suitable for 1200 volts. For this purpose, five railcars and five trailer cars each built in 1913 were procured from the right bank of the Thunerseebahn . For the time being, two railcars and two trailer cars were converted for the local railway. In retrospect, however, the condition of the vehicles turned out to be so bad that they only got provisional approval from the ministry and were only used as push-in vehicles for two weeks. The two railcars were used as work vehicles for a few years, while the two sidecars were used on the Stubaitalbahn. The remaining six vehicles were scrapped the following year.

On December 9, 1954, a railcar was overturned during a foehn storm on the line near Thaur, with both the railcar and the two trailer cars being seriously damaged and some people injured. The railcar was modernized by May 1955 (with sheet metal side walls, without a smoking compartment). During the next main inspections, the remaining seven railcars were modernized accordingly. In the following years, the old Haller sidecars were noticeably scrapped, as the transport numbers were declining and there was no longer any need for such a large number of sidecars. The local railway increasingly felt the car traffic as competition to the outdated fleet of vehicles. In 1973 the motorway feeder was built in Hall Mitte, at the intersection of which with Hallerstraße the access to the local railway depot was located. The road could be blocked from the railway by means of a traffic light system. Since no tunnel was to be built through the Bergisel when the Inntal Autobahn was rebuilt in 1976 , the IVB's tram and local railway operations in Innsbruck were to be discontinued, as the new autobahn should have passed through the depot. In addition, the Reichenau Bridge was rebuilt as early as 1974, and the new construction of the traffic junction between Hallerstraße, Reichenau Bridge and the local railway line turned out to be too expensive if one wanted to integrate the railway, according to the Innsbruck municipal council. That is why the decision was made to convert the local railway to buses that were modern at that time on June 8, 1974. The Haller's last trip turned into a folk festival at which the completely overcrowded sets could no longer keep to the timetables. Since June 9, 1974, the local railway has been running on a slightly changed route in the rail replacement service (whereby the IVB still hold the concession of the local railway). Five railcars (the remaining three were still used on the Innsbruck Mittelgebirgsbahn, two are still in use as work vehicles), as well as the remaining sidecars were given to private collectors and museums, while the dismantling of the track body to Hall took place one day after the shutdown started. Today a railway cycle path or the side lane of Haller Straße runs along a large part of the old route .

Relics and current plans

The coach house of the local railway in Hall

Railcar 4 restored in the 1940s style

The Lokremise of the local railway near the lower town square in Hall was first used as a bus garage and then various other uses. For a long time, railcar 6 without bogies was parked there. The remise is still standing today (as of 2014). In 1983 the Tiroler MuseumsBahnen association was founded , which also documents the history of the local railway to Hall in the old Stubaitalbahnhof and added some vehicles to its collection. In 1984, the two Haller railcars 2 and 3 were sold to the Stubaitalbahn and converted into working railcars (installation of electrical compressors, conversion of the ancillary operations to 24 volts, main repair of mechanical parts). Railcar 4, on the other hand, which still had the original slip ring speed switch and at that time only had two operable motors due to a cable damage, was handed over to the Tiroler MuseumsBahnen Association in 1986, where it was dismantled in order to restore it to the delivery condition. The names "Haller" or "Vierer" for the local railway are still widespread among the population. In the case of the plans for the current expansion of the tram network to Hall, there was talk of the "reconstruction of the Vierer or Haller".

In 1980 the tram extension was already being considered. For the time being, a line should now be built between the Olympic Village and Höttinger Au. Vehicles have already been ordered for this and the tram hall at the new Stubaitalbahnhof was dimensioned accordingly (for 56 six-axle vehicles, in fact only 19 six-axle vehicles and eleven eight-axle vehicles were then parked there). This expansion was requested by the SPÖ and initially not supported by the ÖVP. In 1983, however, they changed their minds, whereupon the SPÖ was against the tram expansion and the project was overturned in 1985. That is why the second trolleybus service was opened in Innsbruck in 1988 , which delayed the development of the Olympic Village with a tram for years. In 1998 the state government carried out a study on the reintroduction of line 4 as a tram. The terminus should be in Mils. In 2000, the continued existence of the Innsbruck tram was uncertain. Politicians discussed whether the trolleybus network or the tram network should be expanded. The other network is to be discontinued. Ultimately, the decision was made to upgrade the tram. In the course of the expansion, a new regional train should also be introduced. This should lead from Fiè via Kranebitter Allee , through the city center and past the main train station, on through Reichenau and the Olympic Village from Rumer Hof along Haller Strasse to Hall and possibly further to Mils in the future. This regional train should in turn bear the line designation 4. New low-floor trams are to be procured for this purpose . The project should be implemented from 2004 and be completed by 2014. Construction work should begin in 2005. Due to political resistance, however, construction did not begin until 2010. Due to the resistance of the surrounding communities, it was not clear for a long time whether the regional train would be built at all or whether the tram network would only be expanded. In Hall, for example, a building and a roundabout near Loretto will be built into the planned route. However, the completion of the roundabout was delayed because the massive concrete foundations of the former local railway line that had been found during the excavation work had to be removed. By 2012, the regional railway line had shrunk to a fuselage from the Völser Bahnhof to the Rumer Hof. In 2014, plans envisaged the completion of the regional train from Völs to the terminus at the Metro shopping center in 2020. Two years before the completion of this line, politicians should decide whether the regional train should reach Hall again. However, the terminus should not be, as originally planned, on the lower town square, but on the upper one. For this purpose, the route would leave the old route a little east of the Tiroler Röhrenwerke, then continue across the fields to the Haller swimming pool, and from there along the road to the upper town square. The short tour between Völs and Metro should have the line designation 5, while the line to Hall should get the line number 4 again.

route

Planning & construction

The first license application by the founders of the local railway called for the start of the line in Hall on the north side of the Lower Town Square. There should also be a junction (km 0.2) to the Lokremise and the administration building. At the Kugelanger stop (km 0.5) the local line should cross on the south side of Reichsstraße, and then also cross with the southern line at Loretto (km 1.8). Next, the route should follow Hallerstraße and have the stops Thaur (km 3.2), Rum (km 4.0) Arzl (km 6.0). The Mühlau stop (km 7.8) with a siding and water station should be in front of Gasthaus Dollinger. The route should also reach the Kettenbrücke stop (km 8.1) via its own railway bridge. The Saggen stop (km 8.9) should be located around the current intersection of Kapfererstraße / Kaiserjägerstraße. Pass the Innsteg stop (km 9.3), cross the Englische Anlage and take the Herzog-Otto-Ufer to reach the Innbrücke stop (km 9.9). The route led across the Marktgraben to the Maria-Theresien-Straße stop and siding (km 10.2). The Landhaus stop (km 10.4) should be in today's Meranerstrasse. The terminus at the Südbahnhof in front of the Hotel Tyrol (km 11.0) should be reached via the Margarethenplatz stop (km 10.7; today's Bozner Platz). A branch line to Wilten should branch off from the country house. The concession stipulated that the smallest curve radius should be 50 meters (in exceptional cases 30 meters) and the maximum line speed 25 km / h (in the local area 10 km / h, on the road outside 18 km / h).

After objections from the institutions concerned, the terminus in Hall was placed on the south side of the lower town square, and the entire local railway line in the south on Reichstrasse. It was also not allowed to drive through the English layout, which meant that the road course of the Rennweg had to be followed to the customs house (in place of today's congress house). The route to the Südbahnhof was ultimately not implemented, but the optional branch route to Wilten was. The first stop here would be the Heiliggeiststraße siding (km 10.8), followed by the Brunnenplatz stop (km 11.3; today Wiltener Platzl). The Arlbergbahn should be crossed at the same level (km 11.4; today's Grassmayr crossing). The Friedhof stop (km 11.7) and the terminus (km 11.8 to km 12.0) at the foot of the Bergisel should be in front of the Wilten parish church (basilica). Since numerous houses have been built in Saggen since the start of planning, the local railway finally had to follow the course of the street. The city demanded that the tracks run through the middle Saggenstrasse (Falkstrasse) and Chotekallee (Kapfererstrasse). The Saggen stop (new km 9.2) should now be used as a siding and be located in Chotekallee. Branch off at the Weyrer factory (km 7.4), a siding was laid in the Mühlauer gravel pit in order to extract gravel for the railway construction. Finally, the railway was opened with a total route length of 12.143 kilometers.

Changes in operation

In 1892 the Thaur stop was turned into a siding and a small coach house was built at the Dollinger inn. The railway line that was originally laid on Reichstrasse was also relocated next to Reichstrasse this year (with the exception of the level crossing at Loretto). In 1893 the Saggen stop was moved to the corner of Falkstraße / Sieberstraße (km 9.3) and the Arzl Schießstand stop (km 5.4). In addition, the Arzl and Innsteg stops are being expanded to create a turnout, and the Haller Au turnout is being built east of Loretto (km 1.4). By 1898 the frequency had risen to such an extent that a new stop at Falkstraße (km 8.5) had to be set up (completed in 1899), and the Saggen stop, now renamed Sieberstraße, and the Gh. Dollinger siding were upgraded to compulsory stops. In 1902 the connecting line to the Mühlauer gravel pit was removed and a new track to the brickworks Mayr (km 6.0) was built. In 1905 a siding track for the Haller Bötin was built opposite the Ottoburg (km 10.0). The following year, the Sieberstraße stop was relocated to Saggengasse (km 9.0) due to the construction of the commercial academy and the Christ Church. In 1907, the line's top speed was increased to 30 km / h and the Inn Bridge was strengthened for the electric railcars. In addition, the iron sleepers will be exchanged for wooden sleepers along the entire route and the superstructure will be renovated.

From mid-February 1909 to the end of August, the line from Bergisel train station to the state main shooting range was electrified, and the rest of the line to Hall by early January 1910. The converter for the feed was located in Neuhauserstrasse (today Duilestrasse) and the power for the feed at the smoke mill was transmitted by means of an underground line. In 1914 it was planned to branch off a stock track at Rennweg (km 9.4) to the city theater (today the state theater), but this project was never carried out. In mid-1914, the Leopoldstrasse between Michael-Gaismayr-Strasse and the Triumphpforte was expanded to two tracks. The Innsteg stop was closed in 1916 and the siding there removed in the same year, but the Hofgarten stop was introduced on a trial basis for a year. In 1918, the Mühlau Reichstrasse stop was renamed the workers' bakery and relocated near it, and the Wilten stop was renamed Wiltener Platz. In 1921, a stop was set up on a trial basis 100 meters east of the Loretto barrier. The Rauchmühle suggested that a connecting railway (km 7.2) should be built from the local railway line to transport flour, so that flour could be delivered directly with the low mountain railway and the Stubaital railway. From the beginning of 1924, people coming from the Innbrücke no longer drove straight to Falkstraße, but instead via Rennweg and Kaiserjägerstraße to Falkstraße so that the tram could use the abandoned piece of track. In August 1928, the Schießstand and Thaur turnouts were relocated so that Hallerstrasse could be widened, while the Loretto turnout was removed in October and a provisional turnout made of rum was created. In 1929 the line between Stainerstraße and Maria-Theresien-Straße was expanded to two tracks and the stops Handelsakademie and Saggengasse merged to form Gänsbacherstraße. From October 1, 1930, line 4 no longer ran to Bergisel, but turned around at Wiltener Platzl and the Marktgraben and Herrengasse stops were closed. In addition, this year the entire track system along Hallerstrasse was placed on its own track structure away from the street.

In 1930, the right-hand traffic regulations were introduced in Innsbruck, which meant that the commercial academy and rum were also switched to right-hand traffic. The other diversions on the overland route were always used in right-hand traffic. In order to be able to shorten the travel time on the route, a reinforcement line was built from Mühlau to Rum in July 1932. One switch was also replaced at the siding shooting range and the second one was removed, so that crossing was no longer possible here. A month later, the stop was moved approx. 150 m to the east, closer to the houses. In August the stops Dachpappenfabrik, Haller Au and Loretto were closed in order to be able to keep the travel time easier and a substation was built in the valley station of the Hungerburgbahn. In order to be able to rebuild the chain bridge near Mühlau, the local railway depot at Gh. Dollinger was demolished in 1937. On January 14, 1939, Hall was renamed Solbad Hall and the terminus of line 4 was given a new name until it was switched to buses. Since the route on Rennweg was to be demolished, the local train drove on a trial basis from May 10th on line 1 through the Saggen to the Inn Bridge. Two months later, on July 10th, the tracks between the Hungerburgbahn valley station via Rennweg and Marktgraben to Maria-Theresien-Straße were removed, with line 4 now finally coming from Wiltener Platzl via Maria-Theresien-Straße, Museumstraße , Ing-Etzel-Straße, Claudiastraße, Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Straße and Erzhg-Eugen-Straße to the Kettenbrücke and back via Falkstraße and Conradstraße to Claudiaplatz and then the opposite way as described above to Wiltener Platzl. On July 13, a traffic light system was put into operation at the Mühlauer Brücke to indicate when the following single-track section was occupied. The new Mühlauer Brücke was opened on August 5th, so that the local railway no longer had its own railway bridge, but shared the road bridge, but on its own track. From the end of October, the local train no longer went to Wiltener Platzl, but only to the main station, with which the train, coming from Maria-Theresien-Strasse, turned into Salurnerstrasse, drove to the station, waited for its standing time there and returned via Bruneckerstrasse to Ing -Etzel-Strasse drove. Originally, the inner city ring should be driven through in a clockwise direction, but since the gradient in Bruneckerstraße was too steep for five-car trains with two-engine railcars, an agreement was reached on the final variant. In April 1940, the Südtirolerlager request stop (km 5.5) was opened east of the Reichenau Bridge, but it was moved to the Reichenau Bridge in autumn 1941 and renamed the Reichenau Bridge. Furthermore, in 1940 Maria-Theresien-Straße was expanded to double-track its entire length, the Hindenburgplatz (Claudiaplatz) stop of line 1 was also used in the future, and the 1200/600 volt separating point was relocated to the Mühlauer Brücke, which was moved again to Gh Dollinger in 1943 . The stops Claudiaplatz and Bienerstraße were closed again in 1945 in order to reduce travel time and not to take away passengers from Line 1.

In 1946 the Südtirolerlager stop was reintroduced as the French occupiers had their accommodations there. In 1948 the Reichenau stop was relocated east of the Reichenau Bridge. In the following year, the Röhrenwerk stop (km 1.2) was built in front of the Tyrolean Röhrenwerke east of today's Loretto Bridge. The bridge (km 1.3) itself was not completed until December 1952, with the Loretto and Röhrenwerk stops being merged into a common stop on the bridge. In July 1955, a siding track was set up at the shooting range and towards the end of the year the stops Haller Au (later duty-free zone, km 2.4) and Neu-Rum (km 4.6) were built, although they also stopped at Line 1 at Haydnplatz has been. With the opening of the concert curve in 1956, the former railway barrier at today's Grassmayr crossing was removed. Since only the railcars were parked in the remise in Hall or only one railcar remained in Hall after the end of the day, the northern track and its entrance switch were removed in 1959. In October of the following year, the switch from Bergisel to Leopoldstrasse was removed (the tracks between Bergisel and Leopoldstrasse were removed by 1962), so that Haller now had to move out via Line 1 and Andreas-Hofer-Strasse. In 1961 the 1200/600 volt separation point was relocated to the Rauchmühle, where it remained until operations were closed, and the second track in Bruneckerstraße was completely removed. In August 1964/65 the Kapuzinerberg in Ing.-Etzel-Straße was removed, which repeatedly proved to be an obstacle for line 4 when schoolchildren had turned the handbrake on the last sidecar, so that the Haller railcars, which were weak at 600V, did not climb the slope more came up and had to push back in order to gain momentum again. In addition, the last section of track in Leopoldstrasse from the Triumphpforte to Wiltener Platzl was removed in early 1965. In 1966 the back track at the shooting range was removed and in 1967 the Triumphpforte stop was closed because it was too close to the Bismarckplatz stop (today's Landhausplatz ). Since the access to the Remise in Hall led across the motorway slip road for Line 4, a traffic light system that could be adjusted by the employees of the local railway was installed here in 1973 to block the crossing.

After setting the web

After the conversion of line 4 to buses on June 8, 1974, the route of the local railway between the intersection of Erzherzog-Eugen-Straße and Falkstraße to Hall was dismantled. A cycle path will be built on large parts of the route. The switches and tracks remain on the lower town square until the mid-1990s. The turnout for the branch in the Remise was brought to Innsbruck after its expansion and reinstalled at the old Stubaitalbahnhof in order to reconnect the Remise of the Tiroler MuseumsBahnen to the IVB city network. After the tracks in the northern Maria-Theresien-Straße were removed at the end of 2007, the last continuous section that was used by the local railway is the track between Anichstraße and Triumphpforte.

Rail replacement services

The rail replacement service set up in 1974 in the form of bus line 4 travels from the main station through Brixner Strasse, Sillgasse and Kaiserjägerstrasse to Rennweg. Following this, she reaches the Mühlauer Brücke, and then along Hallerstraße, parallel to the old local railway line, to reach the Untere Stadtplatz. In Hall, the buses use a block loop to serve the inner-city traffic. On the way back, the bus originally came from Hall along Rennweg via Herzog-Otto-Ufer to the market square, and then via Marktgraben, Maria-Theresien-Straße and Salurnerstraße to reach the main station again. Since December 1995, line 4 in Innsbruck has been taking the same route towards the main station as towards Hall.

business

The concession stipulated that operations should be opened with at least three locomotives, eight passenger cars and eight freight cars. Horse power was excluded from the start, and so the concession envisaged operation using steam locomotives or electric traction vehicles. In fact, operations began with four steam locomotives, nine passenger cars and two closed freight cars. When the railway opened, the fare within the city was five cruisers (Zone I), from Innsbruck to Wilten or Mühlau eight cruisers (Zone II), and two additional cruisers for each additional municipality. The trains ran every hour. The first tariff adjustment was made in February 1892, and the frequency was partially reduced to a half-hourly interval. The vehicle fleet had grown to six steam locomotives and 18 sidecars by the end of the year. From the summer of 1894 on the route ran every half hour and a late train from Wilten to Mühlau was introduced. In 1899 the local railway ran every half hour between Bergisel and Dollinger on working days, and every half hour from the afternoon and on Sundays and public holidays all day to Hall.

By the end of 1900, the local railway finally had eight steam locomotives and 29 passenger cars as well as four closed and two open freight cars. After the local railway was converted to electric traction in 1909, in 1912 the railway was partially only run as far as Maria-Theresien-Straße in order to save a railcar. In October 1913, the departure of the local railway consisted of two trains every hour and four trains every half hour. Starting in August 1914, the local train service was thinned out, as numerous employees of the transport service had been drafted due to the outbreak of war. For this purpose, mail was set up with a pair of trains between Innsbruck and Hall, and the first train from Innsbruck transported newspapers to Hall. From June 1915, conductors were trained to keep operations going. Since the running equipment had become so valuable, people in Loretto were stopped even when the signal was green to make sure that the level crossing was free. From January 1916, the local railway took over numerous transports of wounded, for which even freight wagons were specially converted at the beginning and later the open sidecars. From the game that ended in Hall, the female servants had to sleep in the coach house, while the male servants slept in the Gasthof Engl. In September 1916, snow clearing on the local railway lines was re-regulated: if there was a risk of icing, the snow bend had to be taken every 20 minutes. With a few exceptions, there was no salting on the cross-country route (only in the required dodges). There was a military tariff that made it possible to reach all stops within the local railway network with one ticket. From the beginning of 1917, trains were sometimes run with five Haller sidecars or four larger city sidecars. The second were allowed to drive in the city at a maximum of 15 km / h due to the lack of a continuous air brake. From March onwards, students' own carriages were used on the train as complaints about improperly behaving students had increased. When changing passengers, only the rear gates could be used, which slowed it down a lot. A request was sent to the ministry that the front entrances could also be used. From the beginning of 1918, the seven existing tariff zones were combined into three new tariff zones. From April an hourly service was offered during the week and a half-hourly service on Sundays and public holidays, for which five or six railcars were required. This was made possible by the delivery of magnetic coils for the worn motors. Coming from Hall, the railcar drove first to Fischergasse, then as line 2 without a sidecar to Mühlau and then back to Fischergasse, where it picked up the sidecar and went back to Hall as line 4. In the urban area, the tariff was increased to 18 Heller. From September, the local train could also run every half hour on working days in the afternoon.

At the end of the war on November 7, 1918, the majority of the employees left the local railway, which put the operation in question. From February 1919, line 4 will again run every half hour. At that time, the employees 'contract stipulated seven days' leave for employees who had been with the company for one year and two weeks for five years and over. In order to increase profit, monthly tickets are no longer issued from the beginning of 1920 to April 1920, which means that passengers have to purchase more expensive single tickets. At the end of August of the same year there was another tariff increase, zone I two kroner, zone II three kroner, zone III four and a half kroner, and higher holiday and Sunday tariffs were also introduced. Another wage increase took place in September. In April of the following year the tariffs will be adjusted again (zone I / II / III 4/6/8 kroner, for locals 3/4/5 kroner). In order to cope with the financial problems, a new tariff increase is requested a week later. In mid-May the tariffs will then be increased again (Zone II / III (locals), 15 (8) / 20 (10) crowns), at the beginning of December also (Zone I / II / III (locals) 24 (16) / 30 (20 ) / 40 (24) crowns), and two weeks later, the local tariffs are raised again. At the beginning of January 1922, the Ministry of Transport decreed that the local railway may run trains consisting of a maximum of five cars. Further tariff increases in Zone I / II / III (locals): at the beginning of March to 60 (40) / 150 (90) / 150 (90) kroner; At the beginning of June at 130 (40) / 200 (90) / 200 (90) crowns; Mid-August 500 (160) /? /? Crown; At the beginning of October at 1200 (800) / 1400 (1000) / 3000 (2600) crowns; June 1923 to 1500 (?) /? /? Crown; Beginning of January 1924 to 2000 (1200) /? /? Crown; At the beginning of August at 2600 (2200) /? /? Crown. In 1925 the rent for the Haller Botin freight car cost 200,000 crowns. In November 1926, a tariff reduced by 14 groschen for working people between 6:00 and 7:30 is introduced, at the end of November 1927 the tariffs in Zone I were 0.5 (0.4) shillings. Starting with the winter timetable from the beginning of October 1929, only 3 trains are required for the departure of line 4 at half-hourly intervals, with the travel time from Hall to Wiltener Platzl between 39 and 41 minutes per course. In 1930 the local railcars spooled 278,018 and the sidecars 570,554 kilometers. By improving the track position, the travel time could be reduced to 28 to 32 minutes by the end of 1931. In the direction of Hall the journey time was again 4 minutes shorter due to the gradient. In May 1932, the vehicle on line 4 can be improved by three minutes; this is made possible by the construction of a feed line. However, the economic crisis is still having a negative impact on the operating result, so that with the last fare increase, passenger frequency fell by 20 percent. Towards winter, however, the situation recovers and the local train is constantly delaying due to the overcrowded vehicles. In January and December 1933, the train crossing had to be temporarily relocated from Thaur to Rum. In order to save electricity, the official regulation was issued in 1934 that vehicles may only be heated from −2 ° C in good weather and from +4 ° C in bad weather. For this purpose, the last course of line 4 replaces line 1 in order to reduce the mileage of the city railcars. In order to cope with the heavy holiday traffic, trains are sometimes run with two sets each . However, in order to avoid converter damage, the trains were not allowed to start at the same time. In November, a combined ticket with Kraftverkehr Mühlau will be sold on a trial basis.

When the National Socialists came to power, the staff representatives were removed and the director replaced. Participants in "Kraft-durch-Freude" trips receive local fares on the local train. This and the connection led to an extreme increase in traffic. This also makes another rectifier necessary in the city. In order to speed up the local railway, additional railcars are to be equipped with four engines, and the wooden car body is to be replaced by a lighter one made of aluminum. In August, an ordinance came into force that tram vehicles must have direction indicators , which can then be retrofitted by March 1939. In order to speed up the railway in the city center, the Triumphal Gate and the Anna Column are to be removed, and the bottleneck in Leopoldstrasse is to be expanded to enable continuous double-track operation. Another plan is to switch the local railway to a trolleybus operation, but this is rejected as the trolleybus operation cannot offer the necessary capacity. The relocation of the railcars at Wiltener Platz hinders the strong increase in individual traffic up to 1939, which means that it is no longer supposed to turn around there, but instead should drive a loop over the main station. On May 8, 1939, Kraftverkehr Innsbruck (the largest local bus operator) was taken over by the local railway company, reducing competition on the road. From July, female conductors will also be employed again. The 51-hour week will be introduced in September, but not for the drivers. The income of the local railway can be increased by over 50 percent compared to the previous year. From 1940, the train crossings no longer take place in Thaur, but in Rum, which repeatedly leads to problems due to the shorter diversion in trains with six sidecars. In July 1940, the overhead line voltage was increased from 1000 to 1200 volts, which made it possible to commission a new rectifier in the high-rise building. However, this means that the two upper speed levels, which have a field weakening, must be blocked. From August 1940, line 4 will finally run counterclockwise over the inner city ring via the train station, so that the relocation work at Wiltener Platzl can be omitted. The local railway is looking for new vehicles in a letter to the Reichsgruppe Eisenbahnverkehr. It is expected that the old vehicles would fail in two years at the latest. However, some of the vehicles had to continue to serve for another 40 years. At the end of the year, the dividing point between urban and overland voltage will be relocated to the Mühlauer Brücke. The timetable will be rigorously changed in December. The train sequence is now 24 minutes and the journey over the inner city loop is fixed. From now on, the numbering scheme for trains that has been in place until the end of the local line applies, starting with the first train at 400. The train crossing will be moved back to Thaur, and the staff will be changed at the main station. Due to a cold spell, there were many sick days, which meant that almost half of the staff had to be replaced. In January 1941 there was an accident at the level crossing near Loretto, in which a freight train of the Reichsbahn collided with a train of the local railway because the barrier system was defective. After a short time before an accident on the low mountain railway had temporarily rendered two railcars unusable, over a third of the vehicles were unsuitable, which led to a bottleneck. In February, the city's short-haul tariffs will be abandoned. In August, the usual red / white stop signs will be replaced by the signs for a stop (yellow circle, green H) that are still in use today. On October 27, 1941, the company Lokalbahn Innsbruck - Hall i. Tirol renamed Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe. Due to the poor visibility of the Zugspitze and Zugspitze lighting, a petroleum lantern must be carried on both the Zugspitze and the Zugspitze. In order to be able to use the summer sidecars also in winter, they were equipped with windows in the course of the year. After a rear-end collision occurred in Thaur in January 1942, an auditor had to monitor the train crossings during rush hour. In April, the follow-up symbol will be introduced (yellow, square board with a green, equilateral triangle on the base), which indicates that another train of the current train is following, and that the opposite train may not leave immediately at the Thaur intersection. In summer, luggage is restricted as the trains were often overcrowded and passengers could not find a place due to the luggage. In March 1943, the dividing point between urban and interurban voltage was relocated in front of Gasthof Dollinger. The smoking ban on trains will be introduced in September. The drivers are called upon to drive in an energy-saving manner. From September onwards, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, the first and last train will be run in two parts, each with a railcar and two trailer cars. The carriage of prams and bicycles will be discontinued. As a result of the air raids from December 1943 until the end of the war, all tram operations, including line 4, are suspended. Occasionally, operations were resumed for a short time, depending on the condition of the track network, also on changed routes. The 60 hour week will be introduced from the end of August. The driving service is not affected. A uniform tariff was introduced at the beginning of 1945: for Zone I 0.20 Reichsmarks, for Zone II 0.30 Reichsmarks. There are no more local tariffs, but there is a discount for children.

At the end of the war, operations were idle, as most of the bridges used by the railway are impassable. The 48-hour week will generally be introduced from mid-May. The smoking ban on the local train will be relaxed and will only exist inside the car. From the end of July, the local train will be back on the regular route. In August, the Bienerstraße and Claudiaplatz stops will be closed to speed up line 4. In December 1946, the fare for Zone I was set at 0.25 Schilling, and student cards were only issued to students with more than a kilometer to school. Taking winter sports equipment with you is prohibited. In August 1947 the fare for Zone I rose to 0.40 Schilling, in July 1949 to 0.50 Schilling. From 1950 the front platform in railcars no longer has to be kept free for crew officers. In the summer of 1950, the operating times of line 4 were extended to 00:30. In December the fare rises to 0.60 Schilling for Zone I. To bring visitors to the Kolping stage to Hall, a train temporarily stops at 10:55 p.m. at the Kolping stage on Dreiheiligenstrasse. In mid-1951, annual tickets are introduced in Zone I and the fare is increased to 0.80 shillings for single tickets. At the end of the year, the direction indicators that were installed after the annexation to the German Reich will be put back into operation. However, these could only be used in inner-city areas, as they were only dimensioned for 600 volts. In July 1952 the fare rose to 1.00 Schilling. In order not to disturb the increasing traffic, the old fixed headlights of the railcars were replaced with dimmable ones. In January 1954 the fare for Zone I rose to 1.20 Schilling, in July 1957 to 1.50 Schilling, in January 1961 to 2.00 Schilling, in July 1963 to 2.50 Schilling, in January 1967 to 3.00 Schilling, in January 1969 to four Schillings. From 1970 onwards, the Haller sidecars were taken out of service to a large extent and some of them were sold to private customers. In 1972 the fare for single tickets in Zone I rises to 5 schillings. This year the motorway feeder in Hall will also be built so that the trains can only run as far as Kugelfangweg. From March 1973, the train can travel to Hall again. The access to the coach house across the intersection of the motorway slip road is controlled by a key-controlled traffic light. In April 1974 the fare in Zone I rises to 6.00 shillings. On June 8, 1974, rail operations on line 4 are suspended. In order to be able to keep the local railway concession, the new bus line 4 is officially operated as a replacement rail service.

Vehicle fleet

→ Main article : Vehicles of the Innsbruck tram

The local line to Hall had a fleet of vehicles that was typical for it for many years, as the line was abandoned without new vehicles ever being procured. For example, “Haller railcars” and “Haller sidecars” are common terms for the most common nostalgic rail vehicles in Innsbruck. Four of the former eight railcars are still operational today, two of which were never parked because they were used as work vehicles and two of which are owned by the Tiroler MuseumsBahnen (TMB). Three more railcars are still in a desolate or dismantled condition at the Nostalgiebahnen in Carinthia (NBiK) and only the driver's cab remains of one railcar. While the steam locomotives were probably all scrapped, nine of the 29 sidecars bought for the local railway still exist today at the NBiK, two at the TMB, one in the Graz Tramway Museum and two from private collectors. Of the freight wagons, the two long lorries built in 1918 are still in use today, while freight wagons 253 are used by the NBiK. The snow bend procured in 1909 has also been preserved by the TMB.

literature

• Walter Kreutz: Trams, buses and cable cars from Innsbruck . 2nd updated edition. Steiger-Verlag, Innsbruck 1991, ISBN 3-85423-008-7 .
• Walter Kreutz, Walter Pramstaller, Werner Duschk: 100 Years of Electrical in Innsbruck . Self-published by Tiroler Museumsbahnen, Innsbruck 2005. 
• Werner Duschk, Walter Pramstaller and others: Local and trams in old Tyrol. Self-published by Tiroler Museumsbahnen, Innsbruck 2008. 

Web links

• Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe (official)
• Tyrolean Museum Railways
• Historic rail vehicles
• Local and miscellaneous - opening of the tram. In:  Innsbrucker Nachrichten , June 1, 1891, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).
• Official Journal of the State Capital Innsbruck - Farewell to the Haller Tram Reasons for the suspension of rail operations in 1974 at Austrian Literature Online

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The village railway question. In:  Innsbrucker Nachrichten , No. 171/1908, July 28, 1908, p. 7, bottom center (online at ANNO ).
2. ↑ ^{a b} TMB literature recommendations . In: tmb.at. Retrieved September 28, 2012.