Freiburg im Breisgau tram

Freiburg im Breisgau tram
Urbos 3 in Oberlinden, in the background the Freiburg Minster
Basic information
Country	Germany
city	Freiburg in Breisgau
opening	October 14, 1901
electrification	from beginning to
operator	Freiburger Verkehrs AG (VAG)
Transport network	Regional Transport Association Freiburg (RVF)
Infrastructure
Route length	34.7 km
Gauge	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system	Overhead line , originally 600, since 1983 750 volts direct current
Operating mode	One- and two-way operation
Stops	76
Depots	one ( depot West at the VAG-Zentrum stop )
business
Lines	five
Line length	41.6 km
Clock in the peak hours	Line 1: 6 min. Lines 3, 4, 5: 6 / 7.5 min. Line 2: 10 min.
Clock in the SVZ	10/15/30 min.
Cruising speed	17.1 km / h
vehicles	72 railcars
Top speed	70 km / h
statistics
Reference year	2014
Passengers	63.4 million
Residents in the catchment area	250 thousand
Mileage	3.1 million kmdep1
Line network as of March 16, 2019

The Freiburg im Breisgau tram , also known as Stadtbahn or formerly known colloquially as Hoobl ( Alemannic for planer ), is the tram system of the city of Freiburg im Breisgau in Baden-Württemberg . It has existed since 1901, was electrified from the start and is now used by five lines with regular regular traffic as well as classic car line 7. The expansion of the route network since 1980 is an example of the renaissance of the tram in Germany. In 2019, 71 articulated multiple units were available for regular scheduled service , five of which were high-floor , 36 were partially and 30 were continuously low-floor . The transport company is the Freiburger Verkehrs AG (VAG), which also operates the Schauinslandbahn and Freiburg city buses . Almost the entire route network is in Freiburg's urban area, only a few meters of the Gundelfinger Straße turning loop are on the boundary of the northern neighboring community of Gundelfingen . In total, the tram serves 20 of the 28 Freiburg districts.

history

prehistory

After Freiburg was connected to the railway network via the Rhine Valley Railway from 1845 , the Höllental Railway opened in 1887 for the first time as an inner-city transport link between the main station and Wiehre station . From 1891 horse buses from two different private entrepreneurs took care of the fine development within the city. The horse busses ran on the three lines Lorettostraße – Rennweg, Waldsee – Hauptbahnhof and Siegesdenkmal – Bohrer and were eventually replaced by the tram, except between Günterstal and Bohrer.

Electricity plant on Eschholzstrasse

As early as May 8, 1899, the citizens' committee made the decision to build an electricity plant in Stühlinger . The reasons for this were the Albert Ludwigs University's increasing need for light and strength and the planned establishment of the city tram. A survey by the city administration carried out in 1899 also found that more than 20,000 incandescent lamps in the city needed electricity.

The advice not to run the routes parallel to the Bächle was ignored

The then incumbent mayor Otto Winterer was instrumental in ensuring that the tram concept was implemented quickly. The concession for the operation of the railway was secured by the "Directorate of the Electricity Works and the Tram", founded on October 1st, 1899, as the VAG predecessor company was named. In the spring of 1900, the company commissioned the Siemens & Halske stock corporation in Berlin to build the “central electrical installation for the generation of light and power” and the tram. Because the supply of water power in the area was too low, it was decided to generate electricity using a steam power plant.

The tram planners saw the Freiburg Bächle in the old town as problematic, as it was feared that the cars could fall into the Bächle in the event of a derailment. In addition, it had to be ensured that the entrances on the side of the brook remained locked. In the end, the advice obtained from a chief engineer of the Hamburg tram at that time , who "could not recommend running the track along the stream ... under any circumstances" and pleading for the streams to be covered, was ignored in order to preserve the open streams as a symbol of Freiburg.

The construction contract did not include the renovation and restoration of the roads after the tracks had been laid, as well as the construction of the depot in Urachstrasse. This work was carried out by the city and the municipal building department. At the same time as the tram, Freiburg received electrical street lighting, fed by the same power station . This exists to the present day and is located - away from the tram network - on Ferdinand-Weiß-Straße. From there, an underground feed line led to the corner of Bertoldstrasse and Wilhelmstrasse and another to the square in front of the Johanneskirche .

Installation

Opening postcard

The first test drive took place on Friday, August 30, 1901, and regular operations began in autumn. From October 14, 1901, the two lines A and D ran first, before lines B and C completed the network, which was initially around nine kilometers long, with a total of 34 stops on December 2 of the same year . The latter two routes could only go into operation after the conversion of the Schwabentor was completed. For the double-track tram route, this was then, like the Martinstor before, an extension with a second passage. Initially, however, the line names were only used for internal purposes and were not written on the tram cars. At that time, Freiburg received the fourth tram system in the Grand Duchy of Baden . In contrast to the somewhat older networks in Heidelberg , Karlsruhe and Mannheim , which were electrified every three months before the opening of Freiburg's operations, the tram in Breisgau was electric from the start and used lyre pantographs , while roller pantographs were still common elsewhere .

The power station began producing direct current on October 1, 1901 . In the first year, 61 percent of the 177,000 kilowatt hours flowed into the tram. This was still united with the electricity company until 1933, when it was given its own management. At first the following operational situation arose:

line	route	Tact	Travel time	Orbital time	Courses	Stops
A.	Rennweg – Lorettostraße	every 10 minutes, between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. every 5 minutes	14 minutes	40 minutes, between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. 35 minutes	4/7	16
B.	Hauptbahnhof – Lorettostraße	every 10 minutes	13 minutes	40 minutes	4th	11
C.	Hauptbahnhof – Bleicheweg	every 10 minutes	12 minutes	30 minutes	3	10
D.	Rennweg – Güntersthal	every 15 minutes	23 minutes	60 minutes	4th	21st

Line map 1902

Lines A and D ran together through Habsburger Strasse, Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse and Günterstalstrasse, while the overland section served by Line D followed the entire length of Schauinslandstrasse. Lines B and C both followed Bismarckallee, Bertoldstraße, Salzstraße, Straße Oberlinden and Schwabentorring to its southern end. From there, line B continued alone through Hildastraße and Urachstraße, while line C followed Schwarzwaldstraße in an easterly direction. Seven turnouts were available for train crossings on the single-track east-west route.

Railcar 4 with summer sidecar 30 near Günterstal

In the morning rush hour , up to 18 railcars were in use at the same time, nine more were available as a reserve. In the inner city, the overlapping of lines A and D resulted in a correspondingly denser offer. On the only two-lane section of the network between Rennweg, now the main road, and Lorettostraße, there were up to 16 trips an hour. On the overland route Lorettostraße – Günterstal, which was originally flush with the street, was the only intermediate turnout at the Wonnhalde. The only line to be operated from the beginning was the one to Güntersthal - as it was spelled at the time - with a sidecar . There was a reloading track each at the two terminus Rennweg and Günterstal . Four open summer cars were available for the heavy excursion traffic during the season .

The section Hauptbahnhof – Schwabentorbrücke was served by twelve cars every hour. Due to the single-track infrastructure, however, the wagons of the two lines B and C always drove in quick succession within sight, i.e. there was follow-up train service .

An operational peculiarity of the early years was the level crossing of the overland route to Günterstal with the - at that time not yet electrified - Höllentalbahn. This was located on Günterstalstraße, a few meters south of Lorettostraße or Urachstraße.

As early as 1902, the tram had over three million passengers, whereas the horse-drawn bus lines had only carried 50,000 passengers in their last full year of operation in 1900. In the same year, lines B and C were extended from the previous terminus at the main station by around 200 meters in a north-westerly direction to Lehener Straße. In the direction of Lehener Straße, the wagons were still signposted with Hauptbahnhof (main station) , although they continued to drive one station. This should make it easier for people who are not local to the area.

In 1902, the company introduced a uniform tariff of ten pfennigs within the inner city . This entitles you to a one-time change at the Bertoldsbrunnen intersection (colloquially still referred to as Fischbrunnen ), Schwabentorbrücke or Lorettostraße . The fee for the route from Günterstal to Lorettostraße was ten pfennigs. For trips that went beyond Lorettostraße, 20 pfennigs had to be paid. The passengers were asked to have the counted money ready and to give it to the conductor when boarding.

First extensions and extensions

The Bertoldsbrunnen junction in 1904, the crossing section of lines B and C was still single-track at that time. The car on line D is labeled Güntersthal - but drives north, the destination signs were not changed at the end points and were only valid in one direction of travel.

The Waldsee terminus in the opening year 1905. In contrast to today, the loop was then east of Möslestrasse.

In March 1910, line 2 was extended to Zähringen

The 15-minute intervals to Günterstal turned out to be insufficient for the high demand on this route, which is why the company set up two additional switches at the Waldhüterhaus in Schauinslandstrasse 1 and at Günterstäler Kreuz as early as 1903 for the compression to ten-minute intervals . To further increase capacity on this route, three more summer trailers went into operation in the same year. The first extensions quickly followed, for example at the beginning of the summer timetable in 1905 from the Alter Messplatz station , then still called Bleicheweg , to the loop at today's town hall - the first Freiburg Wendeschleife ever. The terminal there was called Waldsee at the time , named after the nearby body of water in the Möslepark recreation area . The settlement of the same name , however, came about later.

In the following year, the double-track expansion of all lines B and C was completed with the exception of the short single-track section between Bleicheweg and Waldsee.

In 1908, the two new lines from Hauptstraße - Okenstraße and Lehener Straße - freight yard finally went into operation. The latter led over Breisacher Strasse and Hugstetter Strasse to Hohenzollernplatz (today Friedrich-Ebert-Platz ). The route followed the course of Heiliggeiststrasse and Friedhofstrasse to the last stop at the Güterbahnhof at the corner of Waldkircher Strasse and Eichstätter Strasse. From the start, the line was consistently double-tracked for operation every five minutes.

Further routes and new line names from 1909

On the occasion of the commissioning of a new line from the Siegesdenkmal via Friedrichring, Friedrichstrasse and Hauptbahnhof to Stühlinger and the associated introduction of a fifth line, the company changed the line names to Arabic numerals in 1909. The new line 5 ran every ten minutes and used the Blue Bridge , which had existed since 1886, to cross the railroad tracks. In the Stühlinger she drove the second turning loop of the network, a block bypass around the Herz-Jesu-Kirche . Further new lines followed in the districts of Haslach, Herdern and Zähringen as well as a short extension in the Wiehre:

1910: Lorettostraße - Goethestraße and, after the completion of the new railway underpass Komturbrücke , Rossgässle (today Okenstraße) - Reutebachgasse
1913: Stühlinger Kirchplatz (today Eschholzstraße) - Scherrerplatz
1914: Victory Monument - Immentalstrasse

The Komturplatz stop was originally located directly below the Rhine Valley Railway. The former bus stop with the engraved opening date has been preserved to this day.

Zähringen had only belonged to Freiburg since 1906, the tram connection was part of the contract for incorporation . The Herderner route made the introduction of a sixth line necessary.

In addition, four more routes were already in the planning stage, but could no longer be realized due to the First World War . A branch line from Johanneskirche to Reiterstraße, a connection between Stühlinger Kirchplatz and Hohenzollernplatz via Eschholzstraße and connections to the districts of Betzenhausen and Mooswald were planned.

In addition, an overland route from Günterstal via Horben and the Schauinsland to Todtnau was planned. There the line was to be connected to the meter-gauge railway line to Zell im Wiesental . The planners hoped for a quick connection to the touristically attractive southern Black Forest.

First World War

During the First World War , a large part of the personnel was drafted into army service. Of the driving staff, which originally consisted of 133 employees, only eight remained. As a result, women were employed in conductors for the first time from 1915.

After the outbreak of war, the tram was needed to transport the wounded to the numerous hospitals spread across the entire city . For this purpose, a new track connection was built from Zollhallenplatz through Neunlindenstrasse and Rampenstrasse to the remote military part of the freight yard. The trams intended for the transport of the wounded waited at the loading ramp there for the arrival of hospital trains . The railcars and sidecars could each carry twelve seriously wounded people lying on stretchers on boards laid across. The company adapted sidecars 103-106 for hospital traffic. A total of 20,779 injured soldiers could be transported in this way. After the First World War, the track through Neunlindenstraße served - in a shortened form - for many years to connect the former track warehouse to Kaiserstuhlstraße.

Another connection between the tram and the Grand Ducal Baden State Railways was established in 1917 in the civilian part of the freight station. This track led from the terminal at the time, which was located at the confluence of Eichstetter Strasse and Waldkircher Strasse, into the freight yard to enable direct reloading. For this purpose, the company procured ten freight carts and rebuilt the three open summer sidecars 102-104. The connection existed until the beginning of the 1980s, when the GT8K railcars were delivered to Freiburg via this - in some cases four -rail - track .

In addition, in those years the company pushed the double-track expansion of the existing lines. The second track between Wonnhalde and Wiesenweg went into operation on the Günterstal route at the end of 1913, followed by the section from Silberbachstraße to Wonnhalde in autumn 1917.

The level crossing with the Höllentalbahn existed until 1934

During the war, a serious accident occurred immediately after an air raid at the level crossing with the Höllentalbahn. On October 12, 1916 at around 9:30 p.m. the driver of a tram driving into town overlooked the closed barrier in the dark and collided with a train traveling uphill. The railcar with the road number 32 and the gatekeeper's house were smashed, the tram driver seriously, the conductor and the only passenger slightly injured.

Interwar period and first line adjustments

From 1909 to 1961, line 5 was passed over the Wiwilí Bridge, which was then still known as the Blue Bridge

In 1919 the company connected the two radial lines 5 (Siegesdenkmal - Scherrerplatz) and 6 (Siegesdenkmal - Immentalstrasse) to form the new diameter line 5 from Scherrerplatz to Immentalstrasse. As early as 1921, six lines existed again when the terminus of line 3 was moved from Goethestrasse to today's Musikhochschule stop and a new line 6 was introduced from Schwabentorbrücke to Goethestrasse to compensate for this. In the same year, the color coding of the lines was introduced to make it easier for passengers to find their way around.

Due to the inflation of 1923 , the daily number of passengers sank from 40,000 in 1919 to less than 3,000 in 1923. At the same time, the price for a single journey rose from 15 Pfennigs to 100 billion Reichsmarks . As a result, the tram became increasingly unattractive and the entire operation was imminent. Line 6 was discontinued on October 16, 1916 and the clocks of the other lines were thinned out. The situation only improved with the introduction of the Rentenmark in November 1923. On December 22, 1924, line 6 between Schwabentorbrücke and Goethestrasse was resumed.

In 1925 the expansion into the Littenweiler district, which was incorporated in 1914, went into operation. This should already be opened in the year of incorporation and was one of the reasons for the community to give up its independence. However, it had been delayed by eleven years due to the war. At times, an alternative route through the southern Waldseestrasse was considered. This would have led the line to the center of Littenweiler, but directly after the loop at the town hall, another crossing with the Höllentalbahn would have been necessary. The garden city of Waldsee, which only emerged after the First World War, also benefited from the extension to Littenweiler . It closed the settlement gap between the Wiehre and Littenweiler and thus had a transport connection with the Freiburg city center from the start. In the same year the first bus line from Hohenzollernplatz to Betzenhausen was set up in Freiburg .

In 1928, by closing the gap between Rennweg and Komturplatz, where the second depot, which was opened at the same time, was located, the company put the last new line into operation for a long time. In return, the short branch line between what is now the Rennweg stop and the freight station was no longer operated, which was the first time that passenger traffic was abandoned on one line.

Single ticket from the 1930s

After the Schauinslandbahn opened on July 17, 1930, on January 23, 1931, the tramway management finally applied for the double-track expansion between Wiesenweg and Günterstäler Tor to improve the shuttle service to the valley station. The company also planned a four-kilometer new line to connect the mountain railway to the tram network. At the end of the valley station, a turning loop was planned in front of the station building. The sidecars in Günterstal should be taken down and the railcars run solo to the valley station. The high costs for the wagon hall in Günterstal and the five additionally required railcars led to the decision to operate this connection with a bus line as an alternative.

The first complete closure of a section also took place in 1931, when the line to Goethestrasse went out of service and from then on line 6 only served the short section between the Schwabentorbrücke and Wiehre station. The Wiehre railway station - Lorettostraße section was retained as an operating line to the depot.

From 1933 members of the SA and SS as well as members of the Hitler Youth received a tariff reduction through a standard price of ten Reichspfennigs for any route. From then on, Jews were prohibited from using the public tram.

Line network 1934

The relocation of the Höllentalbahn to the south on November 8, 1934, made operations easier for the tram. As a result, the level crossing was omitted, the railway has since passed under the Günterstal route at the level of the Holbeinstrasse stop in the Sternwald tunnel . Not least because of this, the tram company was able to complete the double-track expansion of the Günterstal route by closing the gap between Lorettostraße and Silberbachstraße. The re-routing of the railroad also affected the tram network. Because the Wiehre received a new train station on Türkenlouisstraße at that time, there was no direct transfer between the Höllentalbahn and line 6, which was therefore the last time the day after the relocation.

From 1938 to 1943, the annual passenger volume doubled to more than ten million passengers, as individual motorized traffic almost completely came to a standstill as a result of the crude oil crisis. Nevertheless, no new vehicles could be procured. In order to keep to the schedule, 43 of the original 101 stops had to be closed in 1942 and 1943. After a six-year break in operation, the company reactivated line 6 with the existing wagons, which again commuted between the Schwabentorbrücke and Lorettostraße from 1940 to 1943 and finally again from 1946. The loop at today's town hall was no longer served as planned from 1938/39, because the trolleys on amplifier line 3 then drove to the Römerhof stop.

In 1943, the city council decided to introduce the trolleybus as the third means of urban transport after diesel fuel for the operation of buses and coaches became increasingly scarce. First of all, the former bus lines B (Johanneskirche - Haslach Englerplatz) and C (Johanneskirche - St. Georgen) and, optionally, in a second expansion stage, the entire tram network should be converted. Construction began with the erection of the first overhead line mast on August 1, 1944. As a result of the war, there were delivery problems with the overhead line material and the vehicles ordered. After the end of the war, construction was not resumed.

World War II and post-war period

Tram on Hansjakobstrasse (June 1944)

During the air raid on Freiburg on November 27, 1944 , several vehicles and half of the overhead line network were destroyed. At the time of the attack, around 30 vehicles were still in evening traffic. Among other things, railcar 1 on the site of the track storage facility, car 7 by detonations in the north depot and the two sets of car 53 and the sidecar 110 in front of the city theater and car 44 with the sidecar 107 on Bismarckallee were destroyed. Another 26 vehicles were badly damaged by bombs.

From April 15, 1945, all tram traffic finally came to a standstill, as the electrical overhead lines had been destroyed by the war. On May 26, 1945, operations on the Holzmarkt - Günterstal and Oberlinden - Littenweiler routes were resumed after the tracks and overhead lines on these slightly damaged sections of the route had been repaired. After the construction of a temporary bridge for the Rhine Valley Railway at Komturplatz, the entire Zähringen – Günterstal line could be used again by lines 1 and 2 from October 4, 1945. Line 5 was interrupted by a bomb hit by the Blue Bridge until 1948; from September 1, 1946 a shuttle service was established.

Substation in Lorettostraße

The reconstruction plans contained different versions of the tram. Ultimately, it was decided to keep the original alignment in order to preserve the accessibility and importance of the city center. After the failed attempt during the Second World War, the planners were always critical of switching to trolleybus operation:

"The trolleybus operation in a densely built-up city center can never achieve the performance of a railroad"

- Planner of the city tram 1953

In 1950 the connection between Schwabentorbrücke and Lorettostraße finally lost its regular service, but remained as an operating line to the depot until 1959. Due to the related omission of line 6, there were again only five lines. Line 5 in Herdern was extended by around 300 meters from Immentalstrasse to St. Urban Church in 1951 , but a further extension through Richard-Wagner-Strasse and Hinterkirchstrasse to Zähringen, which was discussed at times, could no longer be realized.

Up until 1959, additional amplifier trips were offered after evening performances by the city theater , the so-called " theater cars ". They ran from the triple-track tram stop in Bertoldstraße to the Wiehre, Zähringen and Günterstal, among others.

Installation operation and closure of line 5

Route network map 1950, before lines 5 and 6 were closed

The lack of conductors and the desire to save staff led to the commissioning of the so-called Sputnik articulated carriages in 1959 , which were named after the first earth satellite launched in 1957 . They had the same capacity as a two-axle railcar including a sidecar, but could only be handled by one conductor using the passenger flow procedure (from back to front) . They were also the first Freiburg unidirectional vehicles, but could only be used on Line 4 until 1983 due to the lack of other turning options . In the same year, a provisional track triangle was built especially for them at the Littenweiler station terminus . At the other end of the line, Komturplatz, they used the turning loop that had existed since 1954. Another innovation of the early 1950s were the three-car trains, which consisted of a railcar and two sidecars.

At the end of 1961, the company gave up line 5 entirely for "economic and traffic-related reasons" and replaced it with the then bus line H. The reason for the closure was, among other things, the poor introduction into the traffic area. A conversion to a more efficient line with its own track structure was therefore not possible. In addition, modern railcars could not be used on the winding route. As in the early days, there were only four lines left.

In order to save the cumbersome shunting operation at the turning triangle of line 4, the VAG started a turning loop in Littenweiler in 1962. From now on, for reasons of space, this was located on Laßbergstraße, which meant that Littenweiler station lost its tram connection. In the district of Brühl , at the other end of the line, on December 20, 1962, a new block loop went into operation through Offenburger Strasse and Hornusstrasse, which continues to this day in a clockwise direction. The old loop on Komturplatz had increasingly proven to be a traffic obstacle due to the cramped situation there.

As a result of the shortening in Littenweiler, the route network had shrunk by almost 30 percent within a few years, from 19.7 kilometers in 1945 to 14.2 kilometers in July 1962. In 1966, the municipal tram procured its first conductorless railcars, for passengers on the sticker recognizable by the red "S" on a white background. However, due to their manually operated doors, the sidecars and most of the older railcars had to continue to be manned for safety reasons. Nonetheless, individual railcars acquired before 1966 were also adapted for one-man operation.

Fare wars, decommissioning discussions and further rationalization

Special car of the State Center for Political Education on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Freiburg fare wars

The so-called Freiburg fare wars caused a national stir in 1968 . At that time, around 2,000 people protested against fare increases, occupied the Bertoldsbrunnen and thus paralyzed all tram traffic on February 1st and 2nd. However, the resistance was unsuccessful.

While many other cities discussed the closure of the tram, from the late 1960s Freiburg tended to maintain and modernize operations. In 1969, due to the above-average urban development in the west, the first general transport plan was passed . The new development areas formed the decisive approach to promoting the maintenance and expansion of inner-city rail traffic.

With a view to further expansion, a first small series of modern eight-axle articulated wagons from the manufacturer Duewag went into operation in 1971 . They could also be operated by one person and carry just as many passengers as the labor-intensive three-car trains or the teams of four-axle railcars and two-axle sidecars. The articulated wagons were special designs for the narrow Freiburg radius with a four-axle intermediate wagon and semi-mounted end wagons, each with a bogie .

Nevertheless, a rationalization commission was convened in the same year, which should again examine a complete changeover to bus operation.

“One thing, however, can be foreseen with certainty today: the days of the trams are over. In the future, they will be dismantled more and more in our cities. "

- Interim report of the rationalization commission 1971

The local council finally confirmed the general traffic plan of 1969 with a large majority in 1972. A connection to the tram was still felt to be more sensible, especially for the western parts of the city.

A special urban planning feature was the introduction of the pedestrian zone in Kaiser-Joseph-Straße in November 1972, when for the first time - contrary to the trend at the time - only motorized private transport was banned from the old town instead of the tram. From then on, further investments were made in modernizing and accelerating the existing network.

In the course of the construction of the inner city ring, a single-track parallel line over the Greifeneggring was put into operation in 1974 between the Schwabentor and the Schwabentorbrücke. At the same time, the existing line over the Schwabentorring was reduced to one track. The reason for this measure was the relatively narrow width of the Schwabentorring, which would not have offered enough space for its own track structure and two lanes for individual traffic . The re-routing also created an additional turning option, the so-called Schwabentorschleife . Thanks to a connecting curve between the old and the new route, cars coming from the direction of Littenweiler have been able to turn around in front of the Schwabentor in the event of a disruption in the city center.

On March 17, 1978, the groundbreaking ceremony for the (almost) metropolitan railway standards with the route to Landwasser, which was developed independently of road traffic , was finally carried out by the then incumbent Mayor Eugen Keidel and State Secretary Rolf Böhme . At the beginning of the 1980s, the first existing lines were given their own track structure, for example the Komturplatz – Zähringen section, which was in great need of renovation at the time. In 1981 the next series of modern articulated wagons ended sidecar operation and with it the conductor era.

Light rail age and “environmental subscription” from 1983/1984

Opening of the Stühlinger Bridge (1983)

On December 9, 1983, the light rail age began with the opening of the new line to Paduaallee. The core of this so-called western expansion is the Stühlinger Bridge , also known as the Stadtbahn Bridge, over the tracks of the Rheintalbahn and Höllentalbahn. Since then, it has been home to the new Hauptbahnhof stop, which enables direct access to the railway platforms. In the same year, VAG increased the voltage from 600 volts previously to the 750 volts direct current used in light rail systems. On the occasion of the introduction of a fifth line, there was a major line network changeover, and the individual identification colors of the individual routes also changed at that time. These were now visible on the rolling tape displays of the vehicles. Line 1 replaced Line 4 as the main line, with the newly introduced ring line 3 there was also a second line on which one-way vehicles could be used. However, since this ran to the Reutebachgasse stump end point during rush hour, passengers could only be taken in one direction north of Hornusstrasse.

At about the same time, a nationwide debate began about the introduction of an inexpensive and transferable “environmental protection monthly card” based on the Basel model , where one was offered from March 1, 1984 and was quickly adopted in other Swiss cities such as Bern and Zurich. The associated price reductions were offset by an increase in passenger numbers, which nonetheless resulted in improved revenue for the companies. Many German transport companies , including the VAG, did not fit this success with its high publicity into the concept. They were supported in this by the then VÖV , the municipal umbrella associations and large parts of the scientific community, who frequently and repeatedly warned against the introduction of these subscriptions: “People shied away from new ideas with new risks, saw themselves not in a position to launch a general offer offensive and That is why the warning everywhere that environmental subscriptions are just a flop and lead to even more deficits. "

On July 24, 1984, the local council - Heinrich Breit, local councilor of the Greens - is considered the “spiritual father” - despite the negative attitude of the VAG, decided to introduce this first “environmental monthly pass” for the first time in Germany. At the same time, prices were reduced by up to 30 percent and the price of the transferable environmental pass was set at 38 D-Marks or, at a reduced rate, 32 D-Marks per month (the non-transferable monthly pass cost 51 D-Marks at the time and was originally supposed to be increased to 57 D-Marks in 1985 become).

This step - the introduction of an inexpensive and transferable monthly ticket - led to an increase in passenger numbers of twelve percent in 1984 and by 23 percent in the following year, i.e. by almost five million to 33.8 million passengers in 1985. Contrary to all predictions, the VAG increased income of 250,000 D-Marks in 1985 alone, despite the considerable price reduction. The number of environmental subscriptions sold rose from 60,500 to 309,000 within just four years. This introduction turned out to be groundbreaking for the German transport companies: "After Freiburg, the trend towards environmental subscriptions in Germany could no longer be stopped."

In 1985, together with the districts of Emmendingen and Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, the Verkehrsgemeinschaft Freiburg (VGF) was founded, which "overturned" another principle of politics at the time, the fragmentation into more and more ticket types and more and more traffic zones - instead of three tariff zones, for example, the city formed Freiburg only one. The VGF, which acted purely company-related, was a forerunner of the Regio-Verkehrsverbund Freiburg (RVF), which was launched in 1994 and which in turn was founded according to the now common models for transport associations.

The increase in passenger numbers of almost a quarter of the people carried within a few months could initially be managed relatively well by the existing vehicle capacities, but due to the drastic increase in passenger numbers (which VAG never expected), ten used GT4 trams from 1985 had to be short-termed the Stuttgart trams , which had become superfluous there due to the conversion to standard-gauge light rail operations. They were therefore the first and only used cars in the company's history to be purchased. What was new for Freiburg was the use of multiple traction or the division into leading and guided railcars . The vehicles known colloquially as Spätzlehobel , which always ran in Freiburg in their old yellow and white Stuttgart livery, could only be replaced by new vehicles in 1990.

The regional environmental card , which was introduced on September 1, 1991 , itself and previously via its intermediate levels ensured ever further, sometimes sudden increases in passenger numbers: This is why VAG continued to use the then outdated Sputnik cars from 1959 to 1993. The regional environmental card had the intermediate level of a connection card to its own monthly card in the districts for 15 D-Mark and in 1987 the environmental point card , which also led to a reduction in fares of around 25 percent (and was already valid for Basel at that time, and vice versa) has already initiated further discussions on transport and environmental policy in the Federal Republic.

In 1985, VAG completed the Landwasser urban railway project with the 1.8 kilometer extension from the previous end point at Paduaallee via Elsässer Strasse to Moosweiher .

In the following year, a new line from Friedrich-Ebert-Platz through Hohenzollernstrasse, Breisacher Strasse and Fehrenbachallee to the Technical Town Hall replaced the old route via Hugstetter Strasse and the station forecourt. So the lines 3 and 4 could be led over the Stühlinger bridge.

Beginning of the low-floor age from 1990

Route map 1991

With the delivery of the first railcars of the GT8N series , VAG was able to offer its passengers a low-floor entry from 1990 - as the third tram operator in Germany after Würzburg and Bremen . The rapid development of low-floor technology in those years was reflected in the Freiburg vehicle purchases. While the first vehicles only had a low-floor share of seven percent and thus only one low-entry with a total of five entrances, the second low-floor generation from 1994 already offered a low-floor share of 48 percent and barrier-free access to three out of four entrances. Since 1999 only low-floor wagons have been procured. At the same time as investing in the vehicle fleet, VAG equipped almost all of the older stops in the network with 24 centimeter high platforms.

In March 1994, the three-kilometer extension of the Runzmattenweg - Bissierstraße branch line, built in 1983, went into operation via Weingarten into the Haid industrial estate . The route runs parallel to Berliner Allee and crosses the B 31a and Dreisam. In Weingarten, the route runs on green tracks west of the Binzengrün road and then turns into Opfinger Strasse. The route then crosses Besançonallee and reaches the depot West. From here the route runs on its own railway track west of Besançonallee to Munzinger Straße.

Thus, the depot West received a rail connection for the first time. The depots in Komturstrasse and Urachstrasse lost their importance. The North Depot was demolished in 2007, while the South Depot now houses the museum's holdings.

The connection to the new Rieselfeld district took place in 1997. On this 1.3 kilometer long section, the route runs on a grass track in the middle of Rieselfeldallee and serves the three stops Geschwister-Scholl-Platz, Maria-von-Rudloff-Platz and Bollerstaudenstraße . The Wendeschleife Rieselfeld leads around a residential building, the so-called “Tram Tower”.

The numerous turf track sections are characteristic of the new lines since 1980 . Here, too, Freiburg did pioneering work.

On June 3, 2002, the VAG introduced a relief line 8 from Munzinger Strasse to the town hall every 15 minutes; this was discontinued on July 27, 2002 after almost two months.

After 40 years without a tram connection, the Haslach district was reconnected to the route network as line 7 with the opening of the first construction section between Am Lindenwäldle and Pressehaus in October 2002. The route connects to the Weingarten route and runs northward on Opfinger Strasse until it crosses the freight bypass, then follows the course of Carl-Kistner-Strasse and serves the Haslach Bad, Scherrerplatz and Dorfbrunnen stops in the center of Haslach. The route between the press building and the city center was controversial. Although the majority voted in a referendum in 1997 for the route via Kronenstrasse to the Stadttheater, the local council decided on the option via Basler Strasse to the Johanneskirche. In 2004, the entire route between Am Lindenwäldle and Johanneskirche was finally put into operation as line 5. The cost of this project was around 30 million euros. It was later decided to implement the first-mentioned route as part of the “Rotteckring Stadtbahn”.

The Vauban district, which was created on the site of a former barracks from 1998, was also connected to the tram in 2006 after three years of construction. The costs amounted to 18 million euros instead of the originally estimated 30 million euros. The 2.5 kilometer long route branches off at the Heinrich-von-Stephan-Straße stop from the Haslacher route into Merzhauser Straße and runs mostly on a green track through Merzhauser Straße. At Paula-Modersohn-Platz the route turns into Vaubanallee and runs mainly in a north-facing position to the terminus at Innsbrucker Straße.

Expansion program “Stadtbahn 2020” and night traffic

Opening of the new Rotteckring line on March 16, 2019, here on the square of the Old Synagogue

Between February 2009 and November 2010, the section through Habsburger Strasse was completely renovated. Much of the tram was given its own green track. In addition, the three stops Tennenbacher Straße, Hauptstraße and Okenstraße have been made barrier-free. The section between Maria-Hilf-Kirche and Musikhochschule along Schwarzwaldstrasse was modernized in 2011.

On March 15, 2014, the 1.8-kilometer section from Reutebachgasse through the center of Zähringen to Gundelfinger Strasse was opened after a three-year construction period. Part of this project was also the construction of the Reutebachgasse stop about 50 meters further north. The route follows the course of the Zähringer Straße, passes under the freight bypass and runs on its own railway body west of Gundelfinger Straße to the southern outskirts of the neighboring community of Gundelfingen . Part of the Wendeschleife there is on the Gundelfingen district, so the Freiburg tram leaves the Freiburg urban district for the first time . The costs for this construction project amounted to 24.5 million euros.

From the beginning of June to the end of October 2014, the tracks at the Bertoldsbrunnen junction were renewed after an increasing number of breakouts had occurred there. During the major construction site, all lines on the edge of the city center (Victory Monument, City Theater, Holzmarkt and Schwabentorschleife) had to be implemented. A special operational feature at this time was Line 1 East, which was served by GT8N, as a temporary depot had to be set up on the Mösleschleife due to the lack of a track connection to the depot.

For the timetable change on December 14, 2014, as part of a concept adopted by the city council in March of the same year to reduce noise in the city center, for the first time continuous night trams every 30 minutes on the nights before Saturdays, Sundays and selected public holidays introduced. Only the sections Johanneskirche - Günterstal and Technisches Rathaus - Hornusstraße remained excepted. The offer costs around 550,000 euros per year and, according to VAG, has been "very well" received. Counts in November 2014 showed a high four-digit number of passengers per night.

With the partial commissioning of the Stadtbahn Messe, which started on June 14, 2013, to the Technical Faculty station on December 11, 2015, a fifth line was introduced with Line 4. The 1.5 km long route branches off from the existing network via a track triangle north of Robert-Koch-Strasse and leads over Breisacher Strasse and Berliner Allee to the provisional stump end point immediately north of the underpass of the Freiburg-Colmar railway and the S-Bahn Stop at Freiburg Messe / University.

From January 15, 2015, a second north-south route was built across Kronenstrasse, Kronenbrücke , Werthmannstrasse, Platz der Alten Synagoge , Rotteckring and Friedrichring to the Victory Monument. In addition to the tram route, the so-called western expansion of the city center also included a new pedestrian zone and extensive urban development measures to increase the attractiveness. The 2.4 kilometer long route is expected to cost 55 million euros. The preparatory work began in mid-2013. For the new route, the crown bridge had to be demolished and replaced with a new one. At the Siegesdenkmal junction, the previous island stop was abandoned in 2017 and replaced by a new one on the northern edge of the pedestrian zone, which enables the 42-meter-long Combino and Urbos to be used. The platforms of the previous stop were too short for this. For the construction work, lines 2 and 4 had to be interrupted from March 6, 2017 to December 9, 2017 between Bertoldsbrunnen and the Siegesdenkmal, for this time a temporary replacement stop was set up at the southern end of Habsburger Straße. With the 2019 timetable change, the Siegesdenkmal stop was renamed Europaplatz after the newly named square . On February 10, 2019, a train traveled the new route for the first time, and on the 11th, VAG began training its light rail drivers. It was officially put into operation on March 16, 2019.

business

Overview

The five tram lines, all of diameter lines are, together serve 76 stations . The average distance between stops was 456 meters in 2012. With the Stadthalle stop (formerly called Messplatz ) in the Mösleschleife, which, however, apart from the vintage car line 7, is not served as planned, as well as the Schwabentorschleife stop, which is only used in the event of operational disruptions in the city center, there are a total of 75 stations. The tram runs Monday through Friday between 4:40 a.m. and 1:00 a.m., on weekends non-stop. Line 2 only runs between 5:00 and 0:30 on weekends. The route length is 34.7 kilometers, the cumulative line length 41.6 kilometers. At the beginning of 2019, around 430 tram drivers were employed by VAG. In 2014, VAG operated a total of 24 substations with a total installed transformer output of 33.75 megavolt amperes (MVA).

line	route	Hold	Clock in the peak hours	length	Travel time	Operating mode	Vehicle use	Courses	Course numbers
1	Littenweiler , Laßbergstrasse - Landwasser , Moosweiher	22nd	6 min	9.9 km	29 min	Furnishing operation	GT8K, GT8N, Combino, Urbos	16	1-01 - 1-16
2	Günterstal , Dorfstrasse - Hornusstrasse	20th	10 min	8.0 km	30 min	Bidirectional operation	GT8Z	?	2-20 - 2-?
3	Vauban , Innsbrucker Strasse - Haid , Munzinger Strasse	21st	6min; 7.5 min	9.2 km	32 min	Furnishing operation	GT8K, GT8N, GT8Z, Combino, Urbos	11	3-30 - 3-39
4th	Trade fair , Technical Faculty - Zähringen , Gundelfinger Strasse	20th	6min; 7.5 min	8.25 km	29 min	Bidirectional operation	GT8Z, Combino, Urbos	?	4-40 - 4-?
5	Rieselfeld , Bollerstaudenstrasse - Europaplatz	15th	6min; 7.5 min	6.3 km	19 min	Bidirectional operation	GT8Z, Combino, Urbos	?	5-? - 5-?

The one-way cars of the types GT8K and GT8N cannot be used on lines 2, 4 and 5 because there are not reversible loops available at all terminal stops.
The Combino and Urbos railcars cannot be used on Line 2 as they are not approved for the route to Günterstal.
The GT8Z are usually not used on line 1 because their capacity is too low for this line with the highest volume of traffic in the network.
For the home games of SC Freiburg in the Black Forest Stadium , in addition to the regular trains on Line 1, reinforcement courses are used between Bissierstraße and Littenweiler. These so-called express trains are marked with a soccer symbol instead of a line number. They run on the way there between Bertoldsbrunnen and Römerhof, from where the venue can be reached in five minutes on foot without stopping. After the end of the game, the first five lanes go without stopping to Oberlinden.
In the evening from 9:00 p.m. to 10:16 p.m., lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 meet at the minutes 01, 16, 31 and 46 in both directions to form an all-round connection at Bertoldsbrunnen, then every 30 minutes until the end of business -Takt at the minutes 01 and 31.
On lines 1, 3, 4 and 5 night traffic is offered every 30 minutes (from Bertoldsbrunnen 1:00 a.m. to 4:30 a.m.) on Saturday, Sunday and before selected public holidays. Günterstal and other inner and outer city destinations are connected to the night network by taxi or bus.
The entry and exit journeys to and from the VAG center are marked with a red slash instead of a line number. A Freiburg specialty is the long reversing of the one-way vehicles when moving in and out; these take place without passengers and with the help of the rear driver's cab. This procedure can be found on the sections VAG-Zentrum - Runzmattenweg (Line 1), Heinrich-von-Stephan-Straße - Vauban, Innsbrucker Straße (Line 3) and Am Lindenwäldle - Rieselfeld, Bollerstaudenweg (Line 5).
With the exception of the Bertoldsbrunnen, Eichstetter Straße, Komturplatz, Klosterplatz and Oberlinden stops, all stations have platforms and thus enable barrier-free access to the low-floor vehicles.
The course numbers are not assigned according to lines (for example line 3, course 1), but from a three-digit number range. Originally it was a double-digit range.
Apart from the terminus, all the stations of the Freiburg tram are on- demand stops .

Tariff

The tram has been part of the Regio-Verkehrsverbund Freiburg (RVF) since 1994. The entire network is in tariff zone A, which means that price level 1 always applies to a trip by tram. The so-called “Regio-Karte” is a successful model. It is available in a personal and transferable version and is valid in the entire network area. Single tickets cost 2.30 euros, for children up to 14 years 1.40 euros. In addition, a day ticket (Regio 24) and various multi-trip tickets can be purchased. The bicycles are allowed in the Freiburg tram at no time of day. Traditionally, on the opening days of new light rail routes, transport in the VAG network is free.

Ticket machines are available in all cars and at major stops . It has not been possible to purchase tickets from drivers since the beginning of 2016.

Development of the number of passengers

1902	1919	1923	1936	1984	1985	2000	2013
3,250,000	14,600,000	800,000	9,400,000	29,000,000 ^*	33,800,000 ^*	65,000,000 ^*	63,400,000

^* = The passenger numbers for 1984, 1985 and 2000 also include buses and rail replacement services , as no explicit statistics are available for these years.

Route chronicle

The following table shows all openings (with a white background) and line closures (with a gray background) in passenger traffic; temporary settings are not taken into account.

route	opening	Shutdown
Günterstal - Bertoldsbrunnen - Rennweg	October 14, 1901
Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Alter Messplatz	December 2, 1901
Schwabentorbrücke - Alter Wiehrebahnhof - Lorettostraße	December 2, 1901
Central station - Lehener Strasse	1902
Old measuring station - music college	1905
Lehener Strasse - Friedrich-Ebert-Platz - freight yard	1908
Rennweg - Okenstrasse	1908
Victory Monument - Central Station	June 17, 1909
Victory Monument - Stühlinger Kirchplatz	September 1, 1909
Okenstrasse - Komturplatz - Reutebachgasse	March 10, 1910
Lorettostraße - Goethestraße	December 1910
Stühlinger Kirchplatz - Scherrerplatz	October 1913
Victory Monument - Immentalstrasse	July 1, 1914
Musikhochschule - Römerhof - Littenweiler train station	March 7, 1925
Kaiserstuhlstrasse - freight yard		1928
Kaiserstuhlstrasse - Komturplatz	1928
Lorettostraße - Goethestraße		October 15, 1931
Immentalstrasse - Herdern Church	July 1, 1951
Schwabentorbrücke - Alter Wiehrebahnhof - Lorettostraße		1959
Scherrerplatz - Wilhelmstrasse and Central Station - Victory Monument - Herdern Church		December 31, 1961
Laßbergstrasse - Littenweiler train station		December 20, 1962
Stadttheater - Rathaus im Stühlinger - Paduaallee	December 9, 1983
Runzmattenweg - Bissierstraße	December 9, 1983
Paduaallee - Moosweiher	June 14, 1985
Town hall in the Stühlinger - Friedrich-Ebert-Platz	September 27, 1986
Central Station - Hugstetter Strasse - Friedrich-Ebert-Platz		September 27, 1986
Bissierstrasse - Am Lindenwäldle - Munzinger Strasse	March 26, 1994
Am Lindenwäldle - Bollerstaudenstrasse	September 14, 1997
At the Lindenwäldle - press house	October 12, 2002
Press House - Johanneskirche	March 20, 2004
Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse - Innsbrucker Strasse	April 29, 2006
Reutebachgasse - Gundelfinger Strasse	March 15, 2014
Robert-Koch-Straße - Technical Faculty	December 11, 2015
Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse - Europaplatz	16th March 2019

Line chronicle

The lines were initially given letters before they were converted to Arabic numerals in 1909 . Each line had its own destination signs, which were different in color from the others. The official introduction of line colors took place in the 1921 summer timetable. However, these were not displayed on the vehicles at all times, but were sometimes only used for internal company differentiation or were only listed on network maps. As a special feature, the VAG introduced colored scrolling displays for the line number with the line network reform of 1983, when the colors of the lines changed . In addition, this was only found in a few other cities in Germany.

Daytime traffic

line	route	from	to
A.	Hauptstraße (then: Rennweg ) - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Lorettostraße	October 14, 1901	1908
A.	Okenstraße (then: Roßgäßle ) - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Lorettostraße	1908	June 16, 1909
1		June 17, 1909	November 27, 1944 ²⁾
		March 13, 1946	December 19, 1962
	Hornusstraße - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Lorettostraße	December 20, 1962	December 8, 1983
1	Laßbergstraße - Schwabentorbrücke - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Runzmattenweg - Paduaallee	December 9, 1983	June 13, 1985
1	Laßbergstraße - Schwabentorbrücke - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Runzmattenweg - Moosweiher	June 14, 1985	today
D.	Hauptstraße (then: Rennweg ) - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Dorfstraße	October 14, 1901	1908
D.	Okenstraße (then: Roßgäßle ) - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Dorfstraße	1908	June 16, 1909
2		June 17, 1909	March 9, 1910
	Reutebachgasse - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Dorfstrasse	March 10, 1910	November 27, 1944 ²⁾
	Holzmarkt - Dorfstrasse	November 28, 1944	May 15, 1945
	Holzmarkt - Dorfstrasse	May 25, 1945	October 3, 1945
	Reutebachgasse - Komturplatz	June 25, 1945	October 3, 1945
	Reutebachgasse - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Dorfstrasse	October 4, 1945	September 1996
		April 29, 2006	March 14, 2014
	Gundelfinger Strasse - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Dorfstrasse	March 15, 2014	December 10, 2015
	Hornusstraße - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Dorfstraße	December 11, 2015	15th March 2019
	Hornusstraße - Robert-Koch-Straße - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Dorfstraße	16th March 2019	today
C.	Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Alter Messplatz (then: Bleicheweg )	December 2, 1901	1902
	Lehener Straße - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Alter Messplatz (then: Bleicheweg )	1902	1905
	Lehener Straße - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Music Academy (then: Waldsee )	1905	1908
	Güterbahnhof - Hauptbahnhof - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Musikhochschule (then: Waldsee )	1908	June 16, 1909
3		June 17, 1909	April 14, 1921
3	Freight station - main station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Alter Messplatz (then: Bleichestrasse )	April 15, 1921	March 7, 1925
	Güterbahnhof - Hauptbahnhof - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Musikhochschule (then: Waldsee )	March 8, 1925	1928
	Friedrich-Ebert-Platz (then: Hohenzollernplatz ) - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Music University (then: Waldsee )	1928	1938
	Friedrich-Ebert-Platz (then: Hohenzollernplatz ) - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Römerhof (then: Wendelinstraße )	1938	November 27, 1944 ²⁾
3		March 13, 1946	1953-1957
	Main cemetery (then: cemetery ) - main station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Römerhof	1953-1957	December 19, 1962
	Main cemetery (then: cemetery ) - main station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Laßbergstraße	December 20, 1962	?
	Hornusstrasse - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Laßbergstrasse	?	December 8, 1983
3	Ring line : Hornusstraße - Hauptbahnhof - Bertoldsbrunnen - Siegesdenkmal - Hornusstraße (- Reutebachgasse) ¹⁾	December 9, 1983	September 26, 1986
	Ring line: Hornusstraße - Robert-Koch-Straße - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Siegesdenkmal - Hornusstraße (- Reutebachgasse) ¹⁾	September 27, 1986	September 1996
	Oldtimer line ³⁾ : Paduaallee - Runzmattenweg - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Musikhochschule (then: Stadthalle )	September 1996	October 1, 2005
	Innsbrucker Strasse - Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Runzmattenweg - Munzinger Strasse	April 29, 2006	today
B.	Main station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Alter Wiehrebahnhof (then: Wiehre station ) - Lorettostraße	December 2, 1901	1902
B.	Lehener Straße - Hauptbahnhof - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Old Wiehrebahnhof (then: Wiehre station ) - Lorettostraße	1902	June 16, 1909
4th		June 17, 1909	December 1910
4th	Lehener Strasse - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Old Wiehrebahnhof (then: Wiehre station ) - Goethestrasse	December 1910	April 14, 1921
4th	Lehener Straße - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Musikhochschule (then: Waldsee / Mösle )	April 15, 1921	March 6, 1925
	Lehener Strasse - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentor Bridge - Littenweiler Station	March 7, 1925	1928
	Komturplatz - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentor Bridge - Littenweiler Station	1928	November 27, 1944 ²⁾
	Oberlinden - Schwabentorbrücke - Littenweiler train station	November 28, 1944	May 15, 1945
	Oberlinden - Schwabentorbrücke - Littenweiler train station	May 25, 1945	March 12, 1946
	Komturplatz - Friedrich-Ebert-Platz (then: Hohenzollernplatz )	June 25, 1945	March 12, 1946
	Komturplatz - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentor Bridge - Littenweiler Station	March 13th	December 19, 1962
	Hornusstrasse - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Laßbergstrasse	December 20, 1962	December 8, 1983
4th	Hornusstraße - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Lorettostraße (- Dorfstraße) ¹⁾	December 9, 1983	September 26, 1986
	Hornusstraße - Robert-Koch-Straße - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Lorettostraße (- Dorfstraße) ¹⁾	September 27, 1986	September 1996
	Hornusstraße - Robert-Koch-Straße - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Dorfstraße	September 1996	April 28, 2006
4th	Gundelfinger Strasse - Europaplatz - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Robert-Koch-Strasse - Technical Faculty	December 11, 2015	today
5	Victory Monument - Central Station	June 17, 1909	August 31, 1909
	Victory Monument - Central Station - Eschholzstraße (then: Stühlinger Kirchplatz )	September 1, 1909	October 1913
	Victory Monument - Central Station - Eschholzstrasse (then: Stühlinger Kirchplatz ) - Scherrerplatz	October 1913	November 22, 1919
	Immentalstrasse - Victory Monument - Central Station - Eschholzstrasse (then: Stühlinger Kirchplatz ) - Scherrerplatz	November 23, 1919	November 27, 1944 ²⁾
	Eschholzstraße (then: Stühlinger Kirchplatz ) - Scherrerplatz	September 1, 1946	April 14, 1949
	Immentalstrasse - Victory Monument	October 18, 1946	April 14, 1949
	Immentalstrasse - Victory Monument - Central Station - Eschholzstrasse (then: Stühlinger Kirchplatz ) - Scherrerplatz	April 15, 1949	June 30, 1951
	Herdern Church - Victory Monument - Central Station - Eschholzstrasse (then: Stühlinger Kirchplatz ) - Scherrerplatz	July 1, 1951	December 31, 1961
	Bissierstraße - Runzmattenweg - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Victory Monument - Hornusstraße (- Reutebachgasse) ¹⁾	December 9, 1983	March 25, 1994
	Munzinger Strasse - Runzmattenweg - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Victory Monument - Hornusstrasse (- Reutebachgasse) ¹⁾	March 26, 1994	March 19, 2004
	Bollerstaudenstraße - Scherrerplatz - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Runzmattenweg - Bissierstraße	March 20, 2004	April 28, 2006
	Bollerstaudenstrasse - Scherrerplatz - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Robert-Koch-Strasse - Hornusstrasse	April 29, 2006	March 14, 2014
	Bollerstaudenstraße - Scherrerplatz - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Robert-Koch-Straße - Hornusstraße (- Gundelfinger Straße) ¹⁾	March 15, 2014	15th March 2019
	Bollerstaudenstraße - Scherrerplatz - City Theater - Europaplatz	16th March 2019	today
6⁴⁾	Immentalstrasse - Victory Monument	July 1, 1914	November 22, 1919
	Schwabentorbrücke - Alter Wiehrebahnhof (then: Wiehre station ) - Goethestrasse	April 15, 1921	October 16, 1922
		December 22, 1924	October 15, 1931
	Schwabentorbrücke - Old Wiehrebahnhof (then: Wiehre station )	October 16, 1931	November 9, 1934
	Schwabentorbrücke - Alter Wiehrebahnhof - Lorettostraße	1940	1943
	Schwabentorbrücke - Alter Wiehrebahnhof - Lorettostraße	September 1, 1946	November 19, 1950
6th	Bollerstaudenstraße - Runzmattenweg - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Victory Monument - Reutebachgasse	September 14, 1997	March 19, 2004
6th	Munzinger Straße - Runzmattenweg - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Victory Monument - Reutebachgasse	March 20, 2004	April 28, 2006
7th	Munzinger Strasse - Scherrerplatz - Press House	October 12, 2002	March 19, 2004
7th	Oldtimer line ³⁾ : Musikhochschule - Runzmattenweg - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Paduaallee	May 6, 2006	today
8th	Munzinger Straße - Runzmattenweg - Central Station - Bertoldsbrunnen - Schwabentorbrücke - Music Academy (then: City Hall )	June 3, 2002	July 27, 2002

¹⁾ = only in rush hour traffic

²⁾ = Bombardment of Freiburg on November 27, 1944 .

³⁾ = Only on the first Saturdays in the months from May to September and operated by the Friends of the Freiburg Tram Association (FdFS).

⁴⁾ = The target sign was divided diagonally. Upper left white and lower right red.

Night traffic

The night traffic "Safer Traffic", which was offered by buses from 1996, has been largely handled by trams since December 14, 2014.

line	route	from	to
1	Laßbergstraße - Schwabentorbrücke - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Runzmattenweg - Moosweiher	December 14, 2014	today
2 / 5	Gundelfinger Strasse - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Scherrerplatz - Bollerstaudenstrasse	December 14, 2014	December 6, 2015
3	Innsbrucker Strasse - Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Runzmattenweg - Munzinger Strasse	December 14, 2014	today
4th	Gundelfinger Strasse - Victory Monument - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Robert-Koch-Strasse - Technical Faculty	December 11, 2015	today
5	Bollerstaudenstrasse - Scherrerplatz - Bertoldsbrunnen	December 11, 2015	15th March 2019
5	Bollerstaudenstraße - Scherrerplatz - City Theater - Europaplatz	16th March 2019	today

Problems

Just over six months after commissioning or renewal (March 2014) of the tracks in Zähringen up to Gundelfinger Straße, the rails in the curves had to be reinforced; in summer 2015 they were again excessively worn. At the time, only GT8Z trains ran there. After a loud squeaking of the lanes in the curve at Bertoldsbrunnen was noticed in 2015 , the VAG was reported by residents in 2017 and 2018 because the air conditioning was too loud. In April 2019, it was revealed that VAG had found the cause of squeaking and excessive wear on rails and wheels. The screw connections of the GT8Z were too loose. In addition, she has been converting the lubricants and lubricants on all lanes since 2018.

After two and a half years of operation, at the end of 2019 a piece of rail had to be replaced in the track crossing at the city theater due to a longitudinal crack.

vehicles

Vehicles currently in use

GT8K

In 1981, after good experience with the GT8 Geamatic delivered in 1971, a further series of ten vehicles, which were given the road numbers 205-214, was procured for the commissioning of the line to Landwasser. The high-floor furniture trolleys were delivered in the new Freiburg corporate colors red / white and have two front headlights . The seats are arranged across the interior in the scheme 2 + 1. Instead of the mechanical step controller of earlier vehicles, the second series received a DC chopper control for the first time , which is operated via a setpoint generator . It enables largely jerk-free acceleration and braking. Compared to the first series, which had scissor pantographs , the second series received single-arm pantographs .

Carriage 205 now serves as a historical railcar, car 207 was scrapped in 2007 and the cars 208 and 209 were 2008 to the streetcar Ulm sold where they under the new number 17 to a bi-directional - grinding cars were assembled.

Since 2006, the missions have generally been limited to the morning rush hour or as a booster for SC Freiburg football games . From 2012 to 2017, wagons 206 and 210–214 were again increasingly in use due to vehicle bottlenecks due to the refurbishment of the GT8Z type. For this purpose, the 206 car, which had been parked for years, was reactivated and was the first vehicle to receive an LED display; the remaining vehicles were upgraded with this technology in March 2013. With a view to the delivery of the second Urbos series, car 206 was parked in early 2017. The remaining five GT8K (210-214) will be used Monday to Friday on lines 1 and 3 as well as in stadium traffic. The decommissioning is planned for the end of 2020 at the same time as the delivery of further Urbos.

GT8N

In 1990 Duewag delivered another series with eleven further developed GT8s at a unit price of 2.75 million D-Marks each. In contrast to their predecessors, the GT8N 221–231 have a low-floor center section that enables barrier-free entry. Initially, the GT8N were mainly used on Line 1, where they replaced the GT4 that were procured from Stuttgart at short notice .

In contrast to the GT8K, the GT8N were again equipped with pantographs . In 2001 all cars received a matrix display. The vehicles were also modernized by the Czech company Cegelec, with the outdated thyristor technology being replaced by the relatively new IGBT technology (insulated-gate bipolar transistor), which is a further development of the thyristor. The aim of this measure was to extend the service life of the vehicles, reduce maintenance costs and power consumption and improve the availability of spare parts. The modernization was completed in 2011.

In a rear-end collision in December 2018, car 223 was badly damaged and then retired. 230 was also shut down at the beginning of 2019. This has been in operation again since the end of December 2019.

The GT8N are used on weekdays on lines 1 and 3, because there is a turning loop available at both end stops.

GT8Z

In the early 1990s, Freiburg was looking for modern low-floor wagons . So it made sense to order a series of 26 GT8Z (241–266) with a low-floor share of 48 percent from Duewag in 1994 for the commissioning of the line to Haid. The purchase price was four million D-Marks each. At the same time as the delivery, the last remaining GT4 were taken out of service. The bidirectional cars can be used flexibly on all lines, currently mainly on lines 2 (exclusively) as well as 3, 4 and 5.

After twenty years of operation, increasing rust damage was found. That is why the GT8Z have been fundamentally modernized since 2012. This modernization included a renewal of the car body and a replacement of the transistors in the Siemens test center Wegberg-Wildenrath , a renewal of the electronics by Cegelec , a new paint scheme in red-white-black and an adapted interior design with new seat cushions. The modernization of 22 wagons has already been completed, the remaining four should be put back into operation in the course of 2020.

Combino Basic

With the opening of the routes to Rieselfeld and Haslach, the demand for vehicles increased further. That is why a series of nine vehicles was ordered from Duewag's successor company, Siemens . The first seven-part bidirectional cars were delivered in 1999.

Due to serious design defects, all Combinos had to be withdrawn from circulation in 2004. Previously, the loosening of some screw connections had been determined, which considerably restricted operational safety. The reason for these problems, which assumed global proportions, was an incorrect calculation of the car bodies; the values for high-floor vehicles were mistakenly assumed. In this context, car 272 was artificially aged in order to gain more knowledge about the strength of the car bodies. After these attempts, this car could no longer be used and was no longer used. The renovation of the Combinos dragged on until 2007.

Combino Advanced

The Combino Advanced was built by Siemens for its own account and initially made available to VAG free of charge. In this series with road numbers 281–290, which was delivered in 2004 and 2006, the car bodies were reinforced from the start in order to avoid problems similar to those of the Combino Basic. Originally only nine vehicles were planned, car 290 was delivered as a replacement for the scrapped Combino 272.

The seven-part bi-directional cars differ from their predecessors in that they have a rounder head. In addition, the entire passenger compartment is air-conditioned, with the Combino Basic only the driver's cab.

Urbos

On February 4, 2013, the Spanish company CAF was awarded the contract from among four applicants for twelve, approximately 42-meter-long, seven-part two-way Urbos 100 cars, each with four bogies. The purchase price was 36 million euros. The first car, later number 302, arrived on March 17, 2015. Five other first series cars with the numbers 301 and 303 to 306 were delivered by summer 2015. After test and training drives, regular use began on July 22, 2015. The new vehicles run on lines 1, 3, 4 and 5. The delivery of the second series with the numbers 307 to 312 was between February and July 2017. Since summer 2017, all twelve Urbos (301-312) have been in passenger service.

On June 6, 2018, VAG and CAF signed a contract for the delivery of five more vehicles of this type, which are expected to be delivered at the end of 2020 and will replace the last high-floor GT8K. In addition, up to seven vehicles can optionally be called up over the next few years. The state of Baden-Württemberg subsidizes the purchase with one million per car.

In two accidents, wagons 309 and 311 were badly damaged and then had to be repaired in Spain.

Former vehicles and museum vehicles

Railcar

The following railcars were procured for the tram, which are currently no longer used in regular service. Until 1959, the company only procured two-axle or short four-axle maximum railcars , from that year only articulated cars. Open-plan cars , on the other hand, were never used in Freiburg. All vehicles that have been retired so far were high-floor .

The remaining cars are partly used on the old-timer line 7 operated by the Friends of Freiburg Tramway eV (FdFS) . From May to September, it commutes every half hour between Paduaallee and the Stadthalle every first Saturday of the month, stops at all intermediate stations and can be used free of charge. The historic vehicles are stationed in the former depot south on Urachstrasse.

Numbers	piece	Manufacturer	Type	Art	Years of construction	Use up	Whereabouts
1-27	27	HAWA	Two-axle	Two judges	1901	1954	Number 2 received as a museum car
28-30	03	Rastatt wagon factory	Two-axle	Two judges	1907	1960
31-40	10	MAN	Two-axle	Two judges	1909	1962	Number 38 until 1971 work car, received as a museum car
41-47	07th	MAN	Two-axle	Two judges	1914	1966	Number 42 was given to the vehicle museum in Marxzell in 1972 , number 45 received as a museum car
47-52	06th	Fox wagon factory	Maximum railcar	Two judges	1927	1968	Number 47 assigned with a second occupation
53-61	09	Rastatt wagon factory	Maximum railcar	Two judges	1927-1929	1978	Number 56 received as a museum car
61-74	14th	Rastatt wagon factory	First aid vehicles	Two judges	1951-1953	1972	Number 70 received as a museum car, number 61 assigned as a second occupation, first Freiburg car with a steel structure, number 72 received as a 406 work car
100-102	03	Rastatt wagon factory	sputnik	Fitter	1959	1993	The first Freiburg articulated wagon type, named after the earth satellite of the same name , 100 (1967 to 1994 referred to as 103) continued to be used as an advertising tram and has been a museum car since 2006, 101 and 102 were scrapped in 1995
104-122	19th	104–114: Esslingen machine factory 115–122: Rastatt wagon factory	GT4	Two judges	1962-1968	1994	by phasing the tram Brandenburg , the tram Halberstadt and tram Nordhausen sold, 107 in working up, 109 and 121 as Museumswagen obtained as Partywagen
151-160	10	Machine factory in Esslingen	GT4 Stuttgart	Fitter	1964	1990	Taken used from Stuttgart in 1985, given away to the Halle (Saale) tram after retirement , from there 151–157 passed on to the Iași tram , 158–160 scrapped
201-204	04th	Duewag	GT8	Fitter	1972	2001	with Geamatic control, in use on the Łódź tram from 2006 to 2012 , then scrapped there / spare parts dispenser

sidecar

Numbers	piece	Manufacturer	Years of construction	Retirement	Remarks
28-31	04th	HAWA	1901	1918-1921	29–31 open saloon sidecars, procured for use in Günterstal, renumbered 101–104 in 1909
32-34	03	Rastatt wagon factory	1903	1944	Procured for use in Günterstal, renamed 105-107 in 1909, cars received new bodies in their own workshop in 1954
38-40	03	Rastatt wagon factory	1907	1968	Procured for use in Günterstal, renamed 108–111 in 1909, cars were given new bodies in their own workshop in 1950
111-120	10	MAN	1909	1971	suitable for railcars 31-40, used on lines 2 and 4, the coaches received new bodies from Rathgeber in 1949 (new numbers 116-125)
126-134	09	Rathgeber	1950	1978-1981	Trailer for the first aid vehicle
135-143	09	Rastatt wagon factory	1952-1953	1981	Trailers for the first aid cars, 135 and 142 received as museum cars
105-111	07th	Self-made	1954	1960	Converted motor vehicles of the series 1 to 27 (3, 4, 6, 10, 18, 25 and 26), originally built in 1901

Work car

The work cars originally had numbers 200. They have been given 400 numbers since 1971, as the GT8 were given the 200 numbers at that time. Vehicles that are still in use are highlighted in gray:

number	Type	Manufacturer	Construction year	Remarks
201	Explosive vehicle	Helmers	1901	in use until 1950, passed on to the Mittelbadische Eisenbahnen
201 ^II	Auxiliary equipment trolley	HAWA	1901, reconstruction in 1950	emerged from railcar 27, in use until 1961
202	Explosive vehicle	Helmers	1909	in use until 1950
203	Grinding trolley	Schörling	1914	from 1971 new number 414, in use until 1982, received as a museum car
204	Salt car	Helmers	1901	with snow plow , in use until 1968
205	Salt car	Self-made	1909	in use until 1971, most recently number 415
207	?	HAWA	1901, remodeled in 1954	Formerly railcar 13, in use until 1961
208	?	HAWA	1901, remodeled in 1954	Formerly railcar 14, in use until 1962
209	?	HAWA	1901, remodeled in 1954	Formerly railcar 15, in use until 1962
209 ^II	Transport truck	?	1962	from 1971 new number 416
210	?	HAWA	1901, remodeled in 1954	Formerly railcar 21, in use until 1962
210 ^II	Transport truck	?	1962	from 1971 new number 417
211	?	HAWA	1901, remodeled in 1954	Formerly railcar 12, in use until 1961
212	?	HAWA	1901, remodeled in 1954	Formerly railcar 17, in service until 19XX
401	Driving school car	Rastatt wagon factory	1951, remodeled in 1970	formerly motor car 65, parked
402	Contact line measuring railcar	Rastatt wagon factory	1951, remodeled in 1970	Formerly railcar 70, dismantled to its original condition in 2016, use as a museum car planned
403	Workshop trolley	Rastatt wagon factory	1951, reconstruction in 1971	Formerly railcar 71, retired
404	Workshop trolley	Rastatt wagon factory	1951, reconstruction in 1971	Formerly railcar 64, retired
405	Workshop trolley / grinding trolley	Rastatt wagon factory	1951, remodeled in 1979	Formerly railcar 66, initially a workshop car, from 1982 grinding car, sold to Halberstadt in 2012
406	Workshop trolley	Rastatt wagon factory	1951, reconstruction in 1971	Former railcar 72, given to the Bergisches Tram Museum in 2002
406 ^II	Rail grinding car SF 50	Windhoff	2012	four grinding wheels
407	Workshop trolley	Rastatt wagon factory	1951, reconstruction in 1971	Formerly railcar, retired
407 ^II	Rottenberg cars Klv53Cl	Schöma	1982	Snow plow with diesel engines
411	Lore	THE MA	1982
412	Lore	THE MA	1982	sold to Romania

Paintwork and advertising

The wood-paneled side walls with the Freiburg coat of arms were typical of the first Freiburg trams

The general paint scheme for urban tram vehicles was set to light yellow in 1901 with brown teak side panels . Vehicle advertising was strictly rejected, as otherwise "the elegance of the tram" would suffer considerably.

"We do not dispute the effectiveness of advertising on our cars, we only doubt that it will help to increase tourism if posters with recommendations for dental water, soft drinks, cigarettes etc. are attached to the cars."

- Responsible for the municipal tram in a statement from 1919

The advertising ban was only relaxed as a result of the economic crisis in July 1919. Since then, business advertisements in the interior have been approved on an experimental basis. In 1921 the city signed a three-year lease with the Berlin “Verkehrs-Propaganda GmbH”.

Due to strong criticism from the citizens and the management of the tram, who described the advertising on the outside as "speckled and tabby monsters", the city took over responsibility again from 1925 and in 1927 decided on a concept for the tram advertising. This stipulated that municipal companies should be given the opportunity to advertise their company inside the car, the exterior surfaces should be left in the original paintwork as a compromise.

Full advertisement on a GT8N

That is why another form of vehicle advertising emerged from 1930. Companies were able to rent decommissioned cars so that they could be completely covered with billboards and, on their behalf, allowed to drive through the city without passengers. The first customer of such an advertising tram was the Sarrasani Circus . The National Socialists used this advertisement for propaganda purposes and inscribed railcar 13 with the slogan “We're going to England!” .

Mayor Wolfgang Hoffmann introduced advertising on roof signs on the side in 1949 and announced that the proceeds would be used to finance another bus every year. The color scheme was set to brown font with an ivory-colored base tone. From then on, roof signs were attached to all vehicle generations up to the GT8N and can therefore still be found as an advertising platform today.

In 1964, the full marketing rights for advertising were transferred to Schiffmann & Co GmbH , a sister company of Werbezentrale Lloyd, which had leased the roof signs since 1953. With this step, advertising was permitted on the fuselage for the first time.

GT8Z 243 was the first vehicle to receive the new VAG paintwork

With the GT8K procured in 1981, the company also introduced a new red and white color scheme that replaced the cream-colored design with green trim. The new paintwork was based on the one hand on the colors of the Freiburg city coat of arms , on the other hand on the youngest light rail companies of the time, where it was to be found in the Rhine-Ruhr area, but also in Frankfurt and Nuremberg. The older vehicles were gradually repainted.

On March 26, 1994, the first vehicles were equipped with full advertisements and partially covered windows for the opening of the route to Munzinger Strasse . Up to 25% of the window area is allowed.

As far as they do not have full advertising, the Combinos are mostly painted red. With the Combino Basic, white stripes run above and below the windows between the driver's cabs, with the Combino Advanced the window band is set off in black, with a white stripe above and white doors.

In 2011 GT8N 225 was repainted to give this vehicle a more modern appearance. The light gray basic tone and the red “VAG tail” are characteristic of the new design. The car remained a one-off and the paintwork has now been partially removed for a full advertisement.

As part of the GT8Z refurbishment, several cars of this type have been given a new paint job since October 2013, which is based on the paintwork of the Urbos. The basic colors red and white were retained and supplemented by black stripes.

Interior decoration

The first series of two-axle railcars from 1901 could accommodate a total of 31 passengers. In the interior of the car there were two wooden longitudinal benches that together offered space for 16 people. The large side windows could be darkened with curtains if necessary . The lighting and hand straps for standing passengers were attached to the vehicle ceiling. In 1903 three matching sidecars were put into operation, which also had wooden seats arranged lengthways. In contrast to the previous vehicles, it was possible to convert it into an open saloon car . For this purpose, the mirror glass panes framed with bronze could be completely sunk into the parapet.

The next generation of sidecars, delivered in 1907, with the car numbers 38–40, received transverse seats with leather covers in the 2 + 1 scheme. In addition, the new trailers were equipped for the first time with folding backrests and spring - loaded upholstery .

The dressing trolley , the articulated vehicles of the type Sputnik and GT4 in bidirectional version received seats from the inexpensive wood material durofol . In contrast, the second-hand cars taken over from Stuttgart were equipped with synthetic leather seats.

The seating in the Sputniks acquired in 1959 was arranged in rows in the direction of travel for the first time. The folding seats on the inside should also facilitate access to the next seat.

The first two GT8 series were fitted with plastic seats , while the vehicles procured since 1990 are equipped with fabric upholstery. In the GT8N, this only includes the seat surface, while the back surfaces are also upholstered in newer vehicles.

Railcar 28 in July 1907
The sidecars acquired in 1907 were fitted with leather seats arranged across
GT8K
GT8N
GT8Z
GT8Z in redesign
LCD passenger information in the GT8Z 243
Combino Basic
Urbos

Depots

West (VAG center)

West depot

The depot West on Besançonallee was built in the 1970s. Initially, the 100,000 square meter site served exclusively as a depot for buses, but was designed from the outset for a later takeover of the entire tram fleet. With the opening of the Bissierstrasse – Haid line in 1994, the West depot was connected to the rail network. Today, in addition to large storage halls for buses and trams, all workshops and the administration of VAG are located on the site. The parking halls, which previously offered space for a good 50 vehicles, were expanded by a further 17 parking spaces in 2015 to create additional capacity for the Urbos.

South (Urachstrasse / Lorettostrasse)

Depot south

The southern depot in the Wiehre district has existed since 1901 and was one of two regular depots for the Freiburg tram until 1994. It is located on Urachstrasse, not far from the Lorettostrasse stop. The construction of this depot was not included in the construction contract for the tram, but was taken over by the municipal building department. The Art Nouveau buildings were extended in 1907/1908 by a rear building and an intermediate building. In addition, the wagon hall, which was initially designed for 35 vehicles, was supplemented at the same time by a further storage hall, so that after this conversion 77 vehicles could be stationed.

After the opening of the second wagon hall of the North Depot, only five through cars and the buses remained on the site. With the connection of the new depot West to the rail network in 1994, the depot lost the last remaining vehicles in regular service. The historic vehicles of the Friends of Freiburg Tram are currently housed in the western and older part of the depot , while the eastern hall is used by the fire department .

North (Komturstrasse)

Depot north

Due to the constant expansion of the vehicle fleet due to the expansion measures, the southern depot reached its capacity limits in the 1920s. Therefore, in 1928, at the same time as the Rennweg – Komturplatz section was opened, a new depot was opened on Komturstrasse. The five-track hall offered space for 30 two-axle vehicles. From then on, the majority of the new vehicles were delivered to the North Depot, as this depot was much better connected to the road and rail network than the South Depot; The branch line to the freight station was also in the immediate vicinity. In addition, with its two-sided driveway - unlike the Urachstrasse depot - it was suitable for the storage of one-way vehicles. On April 15, 1950, the second storage hall was put into operation, which could accommodate 48 more two-axle vehicles.

After the opening of the western depot, the northern depot became less important. Until 2006, some GT8K, which were used as a reserve, were housed in the storage halls, before the building was demolished in 2007 to enable residential development on the site.

Track warehouse (Kaiserstuhlstrasse)

At the beginning of the 1920s, a track storage facility went into operation on Kaiserstuhlstrasse in the freight yard area. This was connected to the route network with the track built in the Second World War for hospital transports through Neunlindenstrasse. The company stationed the work vehicles on the premises and maintained a scrapping area where decommissioned vehicles were dismantled. In the 1980s, the warehouse was closed and the track connections dismantled.

Planning

Measures taken

Technical Faculty - Fair

The route to the Technical Faculty, which was opened at the end of 2015, has been extended by around one kilometer to the Madisonallee / Hermann-Mitsch-Strasse intersection since May 2019. There is a turning loop with a P + R space. The original plans included a route across Emmy-Noether-Straße and parallel to the exhibition halls with an associated double crossing of Madisonallee. Since, according to the Federal Railway Authority , this route would have required an underpass or overpass or a barrier, the new route on the western edge of Madisonallee should run on its own railway body. Another advantage is the better development of the new football stadium of SC Freiburg at the Wolfswinkel location. For this purpose, three demand stops are to be set up on the western side. VAG expects that around 12,400 stadium visitors will use the tram to get to and from the stadium on home match days.

The Freiburg airfield, which is directly connected to the route, poses a particular challenge to the planning. In the area of approach and departure on runway 16/34 , the tram should therefore run in a slight incision and the overhead line should be fixed at a lower height than usual. In addition, the security strip must be shortened from 50 m to 40 m. In order to minimize the risk for passengers waiting at the stops on demand, all air traffic in operating direction 34 and landings in operating direction 16 should be prohibited during the departure of the stadium visitors, i.e. one hour after the end of the game. The new route led to a considerable delay in the opening originally planned for 2016, which is now planned for the third quarter of 2020.

Waldkircher Street

The current route through Komturstrasse, which is flush with the street, is to be closed and replaced by a parallel new line through Waldkircher Strasse. From the confluence of the Rennweg to the intersection with Isfahanallee, a separate track is planned. In addition, the new urban quarter at the former freight station will have a tram connection due to the shift to the west via the two new stops with the provisional planning names Zollhallenplatz and Eugen-Martin-Straße . The new construction of the tram in Waldkircher Strasse is expected to cost around 16.7 million euros, after deduction of the subsidies, this means 1 million euros more than the renovation of the existing line in Komturstrasse. A realization is planned for the period between 2020 and 2022.

Planning until 2030

On May 7, 2020, the city administration and the VAG presented a ten-year plan for further expansion, which the municipal council is to decide on on May 27. The arguments for this are the desired mobility turnaround to achieve the climate protection goals , the rapidly growing city with increased transport needs and significantly more extensive funding opportunities from the federal government, which would cover up to 95 percent of the costs. The combined costs of the individual projects are estimated at around 75-80 million euros.

Laßbergstraße - Kappler knot (2024-2026)

In the event of a possible extension to the Kappler junction, the stump track on Laßbergstrasse would be used as planned.

The plan is to extend line 1 from the current terminus at Laßbergstraße via Littenweiler station and a route that was kept free during the construction of the Schützenalleetunnel parallel to the Höllentalbahn to the Kappeler junction . The line was originally supposed to open in 2009, but was not included in the resolutions for the expansion of the urban railway in the 2010s. Since the construction of the city tunnel in the course of the B31 / A860 is expected to result in considerable traffic restrictions in individual motorized traffic for several years, the extension could be of considerable importance. A realization is targeted for the years 2024 to 2026, so that commuters can switch to the tram at the final stop at the new Park + Ride car park during the construction phase.

In a calculation in 2012, the costs for this project were estimated at 15.4 million euros.

Dietenbach (2025-2027)

The future district of Dietenbach is also to be connected to the tram. The plan is to extend the route that previously ended on Bollerstaudenstrasse in Rieselfeld by three stops to the street Am Tiergehege . The planned implementation period is between 2025 and 2027.

By redesigning the “Zinklern” construction area in Lehen, a ring closure to Paduaallee would also be possible, and a corresponding route should be kept free. The costs for two larger bridges over the A860 (now the B31) and the Dreisam would amount to around 30-35 million euros.

Fahnenbergplatz - Robert-Koch-Strasse (2027-2029)

The second construction phase of the Stadtbahn Messe is to connect Fahnenbergplatz via Friedrichstrasse, the north side of the main station and Breisacher Strasse with Robert-Koch-Strasse. This would relieve the most heavily affected section of the route over the Stühlinger Bridge in particular . The crossing of the main train station is presumably time-consuming, so it was proposed that this section be tunnelled with an underground station Hauptbahnhof Nord . A feasibility study is to be commissioned in 2023.

St. Georgen

First expansion stage as well as route 3 and 4 of the second expansion stage as a planned connection to St. Georgens

With over 10,000 inhabitants, St. Georgen is Freiburg's largest district without a tram connection. The original plan was to continue the route from Munzinger Straße to St. Georgen Church. Such an extension is still called for today, but is not included in the action plan up to 2020. The plans in the Transport Development Plan 2020 envisage two expansion stages for the connection.

In the first stage of expansion, the route from Munzinger Straße via St. Georgen Church to the Wendeschleife Langgasse is to be extended. There are five route variants for the second expansion stage:

Route 1 (FNP route): St. Georgen Church - Obergasse - Andreas-Hofer-Strasse - Vauban
Route 2 (FNP route): St. Georgen Church - Hartkirchweg - Hüttweg - Vauban
Route 3: St. Georgen Church - Hartkirchweg - Cardinalweg - Andreas-Hofer-Straße - Vauban
Route 4: St. Georgen Church - Hartkirchweg - Am Mettweg - Guildfordallee - Pressehaus
Route 5 ( branch line ): St. Georgen Church - Cardinalweg

There should be a new feasibility study for this project in 2021, but the implementation period is still open.

Gundelfingen

The line to Gundelfingen is part of the project “Stadtbahn to the northern Freiburg districts and to Gundelfingen”. The route is to run over the Alte Bundesstraße to the Wendeschleife Waldstraße. At the same time, it is planned to relocate Gundelfingen station a few 100 meters to the north in order to connect the tram with the S-Bahn .

Future line concept

In the traffic development plan 2007 the following route network was proposed after the opening of all medium-term planned routes:

line	route
1	Kappler knot - Laßbergstraße - Bertoldsbrunnen - Hauptbahnhof - Runzmattenweg - Moosweiher
3	Gundelfingen Bahnhof - Gundelfinger Straße - Europaplatz - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Runzmattenweg - Munzinger Straße
4th	Dorfstrasse - Bertoldsbrunnen - Central Station - Robert-Koch-Strasse - Hornusstrasse
5	Dietenbach ¹ - Bollerstaudenstraße - Scherrerplatz - Bertoldsbrunnen - Europaplatz - Fahnenbergplatz - Robert-Koch-Strasse - trade fair
7th	Innsbrucker Strasse - Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse - City Theater - Fahnenbergplatz - Europaplatz - Hornusstrasse

1 = not included in the original plan as the planning of the new Dietenbach district only began well after the VEP was published.

Further planning

In the long term, the following new lines are also possible:

Elsässer Straße (Berliner Allee - Diakoniekrankenhaus)
Berliner Allee (Bissierstrasse - Elsässer Strasse)
Merzhausen (Paula-Modersohn-Platz - Hexentalstraße)
Hochdorf (Madisonallee / Moosweiher - Hochdorf)
Denzlingen (Gundelfingen - Denzlingen)
Umkirch (Bollerstaudenstraße - Mundenhof - Umkirch)

particularities

The Freiburg tram passes through two historic city gates and a gatehouse . At the end of the 19th century, demolition of the Schwabentor was under discussion, but in the end it was decided to widen and add floors. After the Second World War, it was returned to its original state. In addition, there are only two more such gateways in German-speaking countries, these are the Nauener Tor on the Potsdam tram and the Käfigturm on the Bern tram .

From 1967, when the Lörrach tram ended, the overland route to Günterstal was the southernmost tram route in Germany. This was true until 2014, when the Basel tram was extended to Weil am Rhein .

The Stühlingerbrücke ("Stadtbahnbrücke") is the steepest stretch of the Freiburg tram. For this reason the GT8 were equipped with all-axle drive.

literature

Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. , EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 .
Mobile city - the history of the tram in Freiburg. , Freiburger Verkehrs AG, Freiburg im Breisgau 2001, ISBN 3-00-008339-1 .
Wolfdieter Batsch: The Freiburg Stadtbahn: a work of the century shortly before its realization. , Freiburger Stadthefte, Volume 24, Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau 1977.
Norman Kampmann, Christian Wolf: The Freiburg tram today. With the Freiburger Verkehrs AG through the Breisgau metropolis. , EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2012, ISBN 3-88255-499-1 .
Joachim Scheck, Daniel Charhouli: STRABA: Discovering Freiburg on Gleisen , Promo-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2014, ISBN 978-3-923288-78-6 .

Web links

Commons : Tram Freiburg im Breisgau - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Official website of the VAG
Friends of the Freiburg tram
Vehicle fleet list of the tram at tram-info.de

Expansion planning on the official website of the city of Freiburg

Picture page about the tram in Freiburg on public-transport.net

Individual evidence

↑ Data GT8 Geamtic , on fr-strabbus-fan.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

^ ^A ^b Manfred Gallo: Freiburg: The "Hoobl" has been running for 107 years. Badische Zeitung, November 3, 2008, accessed on March 21, 2014.

↑ Peter Kalchthaler : Where did Freiburg's first omnibus once go? Badische Zeitung, February 6, 2012, accessed on June 13, 2014.

^ History of the Freiburg E-Werk ( Memento from March 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), on fudder.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ Viktor Kuntzemüller: Freiburgs Bächle once and now ( Memento from June 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Freiburg Almanac. 38, 1987.

^ Freiburger Zeitung , edition of September 1, 1901 .

↑ Simone Höhl: Up hairstyle and depth analysis: The cracks in the Schwabentor are still a mystery. Badische Zeitung, January 30, 2013, accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , p. 15: First route extensions.

^ Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 19 (Operations report 1902: Uniform tariffs for the tram ).

^ ^A ^b Manfred Gallo: The inn on the tracks. Badische Zeitung, February 1, 2010, accessed on June 13, 2014.

^ Gerhard Greß: Freiburg transport hub and its surroundings in the fifties and sixties. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1997, ISBN 3-88255-263-8 , p. 11.

↑ ^a ^b 100 years of tram in Zähringen , on nahverkehr-breisgau.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

^ ^A ^b Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , pp. 21–23: Planning and route extensions between 1910 and 1914.

^ Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 36 (company report 1915: moving in of drivers and first employment of women ).

↑ L. Werthmann (Ed.): The Freiburg hospitals in the war of nations: 1914/15 . Caristasverlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1915, pp. 152/153.

^ Morning edition, Friday, October 13, 1916 .

^ Freiburger Zeitung, Freiburger Zeitung, evening edition, Friday, October 13, 1916 .

↑ Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , p. 27: The time after the First World War.

↑ Andreas Peikert: Littenweiler has been part of Freiburg for 100 years. Badische Zeitung, January 8, 2014, accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , p. 33: The 30s.

^ Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 77 (Betriebsbericht 1933: Tariff changes ).

↑ Heiko Hauman, Dagmar Rübsam, Thomas Schnabel, Gerd R. Ueberschär: Swastika over the town hall. From the dissolution of the Weimar Republic to the end of the Second World War (1930–1945). In: History of the city of Freiburg im Breisgau. Volume 3, Theis, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8062-0857-3 , p. 353 f.

↑ Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , pp. 36–37: The trolleybus traffic.

^ Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 83 (Betriebsbericht 1944/45: Damage after the bombing on November 27, 1914 ).

↑ Freiburg i. Br., Article for "Fahr Mit" , November 4, 1953.

↑ The Sputnik railcars on www.nahverkehr-breisgau.de

^ Hans Sigmund: Freiburg North: When the tram drove to the church square. Badische Zeitung, March 22, 2010, accessed on February 7, 2013.

^ Wiehre-Journal number 19 ( Memento from March 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), November / December 2009.

↑ Decommissioning data Freiburg im Breisgau , on www.sufk-koeln.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ Wendeschleife Komturplatz relocated , in the Freiburg 50 Years Ago section of the Badische Zeitung , May 4, 2010 edition, accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ With the 68er tram “pick up the people” , on fdfs.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

^ Gerhard Greß: Freiburg transport hub and its surroundings in the fifties and sixties. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1997, ISBN 3-88255-263-8 , p. 49.

^ Heiner Monheim , Rita Manheim-Dandörfer: Streets for everyone. Analyzes and concepts for the city traffic of the future . Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-368-0 , p. 417.

↑ Joachim Wille: Die Tempomacher - Free Ride into Chaos. CH Becksche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-33026-6 , pp. 162–168 (section: “Breakthrough for the environmental map - impressions from Freiburg”, p. 163).

^ Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 165

↑ ^a ^b ^c Joachim Wille: Die Tempomacher - Free ride into chaos. CH Becksche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-33026-6 , pp. 162-168.

^ ^A ^b Heiner Monheim, Rita Manheim-Dandörfer: Streets for everyone. Analyzes and concepts for the city traffic of the future . Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-368-0 , p. 418.

↑ 15 years RegioKarte ( memento of September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), on rvf.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ Tram fans make a lot of steam - badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved December 15, 2014 .

↑ Wolfgang Plöger u. a .: We have kept Freiburg on the move since 1901. Documentation of local public transport in the city of Freiburg i.Br. Brochure of the Freiburger Verkehrs AG, Freiburg i. Br. 1991.

^ Heiner Monheim, Rita Manheim-Dandörfer: Streets for everyone. Analyzes and concepts for the city traffic of the future . Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-368-0 , p. 486, whereby Karlsruhe and Stuttgart are expressly mentioned.

^ Official Journal Freiburg: Opening of the Haslach tram , accessed on January 13, 2014.

^ VAG Freiburg: Vauban tram opening festival ( Memento from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) April 4, 2006, accessed on January 17, 2014.

^ Official Journal Freiburg: Stadtbahn Vauban: route between Basler Strasse and Vauban October 9, 2003, accessed on January 17, 2014.

^ Official Journal of April 29, 2006, page 4 , accessed on August 26, 2014

^ Official Journal Freiburg: Redesign of Habsburgerstrasse , special supplement on November 5, 2009, accessed on June 13, 2014.

^ City of Freiburg: renovation and redesign of the Schwarzwaldstrasse .

↑ Clear way for Line 2 - inauguration on Saturday, badische-zeitung.de, March 12, 2014 , accessed on August 26, 2014

↑ Simone Höhl: Again the switch break at Bertoldsbrunnen - the general renovation will take place in June. Badische Zeitung, May 8, 2014, accessed on October 26, 2014.

^ Simone Höhl: Handwork in the Mösleschleife . Badische Zeitung, June 21, 2014, accessed on October 26, 2014.

↑ Joachim Röderer: Tram runs around the clock. Badische Zeitung, March 8, 2014, accessed on January 31, 2016.

↑ Sina Gesell: One year night traffic by bus and train: How's it going? Badische Zeitung, December 3, 2015, accessed on January 31, 2016.

↑ Uwe Mauch: Freiburg: Groundbreaking for the 38 million euro tram route to the exhibition center . Badische Zeitung, June 15, 2013, accessed on June 16, 2013.

↑ Simone Höhl, Joachim Röderer: Premiere in pink: Line 4 rolls into the west of Freiburg. Badische Zeitung, December 12, 2015, accessed on December 22, 2015.

^ VAG: Groundbreaking for the Rotteckring tram ( memento from January 16, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), press release from January 15, 2015, accessed on January 16, 2015.

↑ Uwe Mauch: Cost explosion: light rail over Rotteckring is almost 17 million euros more expensive. Badische Zeitung, June 29, 2013, accessed on July 21, 2013.

↑ Uwe Mauch: Cost explosion at Rotteckring-Linie: City councilors are waiting for explanations. Badische Zeitung, July 3, 2013, accessed on July 21, 2013.

↑ Simone Höhl: Construction of the light rail over the Rotteckring starts in February. Badische Zeitung, September 26, 2014, accessed on September 26, 2014.

↑ Victory Monument and Kajo: The newest traffic jam and construction site - badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved June 3, 2017 .

↑ Uwe Mauch: With the new timetable, users have to adapt. Badische Zeitung, July 20, 2018, accessed on July 20, 2018 .

^ Simone Höhl & Joachim Röderer: The Freiburger Verkehrs-AG is testing the new Rotteck line. Badische Zeitung, February 10, 2019, accessed on February 11, 2019 .

^ Fabian Vögtle: This is how Freiburg celebrates its new city center. Badische Zeitung, March 16, 2019, accessed on March 17, 2019 .

↑ Badische Zeitung : The hot phase of the renovation at the Kronenbrücke begins on Monday , July 5, 2018, accessed on July 5, 2018

↑ The new Kronenbrücke bridge has been completed. Retrieved July 11, 2018 .

↑ VAG: Facts & Figures , as of 2012, accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ Rolf Müller: 430 tram drivers have to go to the driving school for the new Rottecktram. Badische Zeitung, February 22, 2019, accessed on February 25, 2019 .

↑ Michael Flösch, VAG operations manager in the area of "Maintenance of Electrical Systems", as of July 16, 2014

^ Simone Höhl: Freiburg: Correction: Lassbergstrasse is now called Laßbergstrasse. Badische Zeitung, December 27, 2016, accessed on April 29, 2017 .

↑ Thinking about tactics - by bus and train to the MAGE SOLAR Stadium ( Memento from February 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 17, 2014.

↑ Freiburg and the surrounding area: From the tram to taxi and bus: This is how night traffic works - badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved December 14, 2014 .

^ VAG safer traffic: Freiburger Verkehrs AG. Archived from the original on December 14, 2014 ; accessed on December 14, 2014 .

↑ Tramtom's page for the tram in Freiburg , accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ Course numbers on tramtom.de , accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ VAG price information , accessed on October 14, 2016.

↑ Celebrate with us: Opening party for the Rotteckring tram - VAG Blog. Retrieved March 17, 2019 .

↑ Simone Lutz: Why are tram drivers in Freiburg no longer selling tickets? , Badische Zeitung, February 10, 2016, accessed on February 10, 2016.

↑ Herderner Bürgerbrief, October 2009 ( memento from February 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ rail Haslach on zrf.de, accessed June 14, 2014.

^ VAG Freiburg: "Neuer Nachtverkehr" ( Memento from November 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), December 21, 2014, accessed on November 13, 2015.

↑ Simone Höhl: The tracks on the Zähringen tram line are worn out again. Badische Zeitung, July 21, 2015, accessed on April 25, 2019 .

↑ Simone Höhl: Bertoldsbrunnen: Trams squeak through the curve. Badische Zeitung, February 4, 2015, accessed on April 25, 2019 .

^ Simone Höhl: residents report the VAG because of loud trams. Badische Zeitung, June 23, 2018, accessed on April 25, 2019 .

↑ Simone Höhl: Freiburger Verkehrs-AG stops turbo track wear. Badische Zeitung, April 23, 2019, accessed on April 25, 2019 .

^ Simone Höhl: Broken rails and permanent repairs. Badische Zeitung, November 20, 2019, accessed on November 20, 2019 .

↑ Vehicle fleet list Ulm: Work vehicles, on tram-info.de, accessed on June 22, 2014.

↑ Blickpunkt Straßenbahn, issue 1/2017, p. 102.

^ ^A ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Norman Kampmann, Christian Wolf: The Freiburg tram today. With the Freiburger Verkehrs AG through the Breisgau metropolis (Stadtverkehr-Bildarchiv, Volume 2). EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2012, pp. 10–13: Vehicles for light rail operations.

↑ Local transport in Breisgau: GT8 furnishing multiple units 3rd series ( memento of January 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 22, 2014.

↑ Simone Höhl: Renovation: The Verkehrs-AG modernizes its largest tram fleet. Badische Zeitung, September 22, 2013, accessed on February 11, 2013.

^ Local traffic in Breisgau: What happened to car 272? ( Memento of June 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 22, 2014.

↑ Homepage CAF [1] accessed on March 5, 2019.

↑ tenders electronic daily delivery order - 58336-2013 , accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ Rolf Müller: VAG buys trams from a Spanish manufacturer. Badische Zeitung, February 25, 2013, accessed on June 13, 2014.

↑ 12 new “Urbos 100” light rail vehicles for Freiburg ( memento from April 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), Freiburger Verkehrs AG, March 15, 2013.

↑ Arrival: Freiburg's new trams: The Urbos is here - badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved March 18, 2015 .

^ Freiburg: Premiere: VAG celebrates the start of the Urbos era - maiden voyage through Freiburg - badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved October 23, 2015 .

^ Freiburg: New tram: The Urbos starts in Freiburg - BZ is testing new tram - badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved July 16, 2015 .

↑ Simone Höhl: Freiburg: Urbos have established themselves - but for some they are too narrow. Badische Zeitung, May 21, 2016, accessed on May 22, 2016 .

^ Simone Höhl: Freiburg: The new Urbos trams are rolling. Badische Zeitung, February 28, 2017, accessed on March 1, 2017 .

↑ Simone Höhl: The twelfth Urbos from Spain is now driving on Freiburg tracks. Badische Zeitung, July 20, 2017, accessed on May 11, 2018 .

^ Simone Höhl: Freiburgs Verkehrs-AG buys five new Urbos trams. Badische Zeitung, June 6, 2018, accessed on June 6, 2018 .

↑ Information on oldtimer line 7 , on stadt-land-regiokarte.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

^ Local transport Breisgau: work car ( memento from January 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 13, 2014.

^ ^A ^b ^c ^d ^e Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 103 (How the advertisement got rolling) .

↑ Freiburg: Schiffmann Außenwerbung: Trams in Freiburg have been mobile advertising surfaces for almost 100 years. Badische Zeitung, accessed on January 12, 2016 .

↑ Simone Höhl: Freiburg: The VAG is building the longest garage in the city. Badische Zeitung, June 8, 2013, accessed on February 23, 2014.

^ VAG Freiburg: Depot North is being sold ( Memento from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 13, 2014.

^ Local traffic Breisgau: Scrapping ( memento from January 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ).

^ Simone Lutz: New plans for the tram to the fair. In: Badische Zeitung. August 14, 2013, accessed October 21, 2015 .

↑ Gesellschaft für Luftverkehrsforschung (GfL): Examination of the compatibility of planned tram stops for the SC Stadium with flight operations at the Freiburg airfield - calculation of the external risk , expert opinion on behalf of the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, March 14, 2016

^ Uwe Mauch: Freiburg: A new route for the tram in the north . Badische Zeitung, June 29, 2010, accessed on January 23, 2014.

^ Freiburg: Small tram route, big increase in costs - badische-zeitung.de. Retrieved June 16, 2015 .

↑ City council decides to open the development plan "Stadtbahn Waldkircher Straße" vag-freiburg.de, accessed on July 10, 2018.

↑ ^a ^b ^c Simone Höhl: Expansion of the Freiburg light rail is expected to cost around 80 million euros. In: Badische Zeitung. May 7, 2020, accessed May 8, 2020 .

↑ Jens Kitzler: Stadtbahn für Stadttunnel Badische Zeitung, March 24, 2019, accessed on March 21, 2019.

^ City of Freiburg: 3rd information letter on the Dietenbach district , in-depth study on urban test planning, accessed on May 5, 2016.

↑ Jelka Louisa Beule: In the west of Freiburg, the tram ring closure would now be possible after all. Badische Zeitung, January 28, 2019, accessed on January 28, 2019 .

↑ Uwe Mauch: Freiburg: Tram line is becoming more expensive and comes with a delay. Badische Zeitung, May 10, 2013, accessed on April 11, 2014.

↑ ^a ^b Stadtbahn expansion 2030 - a major project for Freiburg. baden.fm, May 7, 2020, accessed on May 8, 2020.

↑ Participation budget Freiburg: When will St. Georgen finally get a tram connection? ( Memento of February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) January 15, 2013, accessed on January 18, 2014.

↑ Independent St. Georgen Citizens' Association: St. Georgen tram moved a long way off. ( Memento of September 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) June 5, 2010, accessed on January 18, 2014.

↑ City of Freiburg: Transport Development Plan 2020: Measured measures in public transport . Pp. 1–9, accessed November 4, 2014.

↑ City of Freiburg: Transport Development Plan 2020: Measures investigated in public transport (picture) , accessed on November 4, 2014.

↑ Gundelfingen: Gundelfingen-Süd can only be an interim solution. Badische Zeitung, February 17, 2012, accessed on January 12, 2014.

↑ City of Freiburg: ÖPNV target network base case 2020 , accessed on November 13, 2015.

^ City of Freiburg: Overview of measures for public transport , accessed on November 4, 2014.

↑ City of Freiburg: Transport Development Plan 2020: Measured measures in public transport . Pp. 10–12, accessed November 4, 2014.

↑ Andrea Gallien: Merzhausen: Stadtbahn is still a topic. Badische Zeitung, October 20, 2011, accessed on March 22, 2014.

↑ FdFS: BVB line 8 is extended to Germany and Freiburg loses the southernmost tram stop. June 12, 2013, accessed January 12, 2014.

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on July 5, 2014 in this version .

[1] Data GT8 Geamtic , on fr-strabbus-fan.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

[gallo_hobel-2] A ^b Manfred Gallo: Freiburg: The "Hoobl" has been running for 107 years. Badische Zeitung, November 3, 2008, accessed on March 21, 2014.

[3] Peter Kalchthaler : Where did Freiburg's first omnibus once go? Badische Zeitung, February 6, 2012, accessed on June 13, 2014.

[4] History of the Freiburg E-Werk ( Memento from March 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), on fudder.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

[Kuntzemueller-5] Viktor Kuntzemüller: Freiburgs Bächle once and now ( Memento from June 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Freiburg Almanac. 38, 1987.

[6] Freiburger Zeitung , edition of September 1, 1901 .

[7] Simone Höhl: Up hairstyle and depth analysis: The cracks in the Schwabentor are still a mystery. Badische Zeitung, January 30, 2013, accessed on June 13, 2014.

[8] Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , p. 15: First route extensions.

[9] Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 19 (Operations report 1902: Uniform tariffs for the tram ).

[Badische01022010-10] A ^b Manfred Gallo: The inn on the tracks. Badische Zeitung, February 1, 2010, accessed on June 13, 2014.

[11] Gerhard Greß: Freiburg transport hub and its surroundings in the fifties and sixties. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1997, ISBN 3-88255-263-8 , p. 11.

[Zähringen-12] 100 years of tram in Zähringen , on nahverkehr-breisgau.de, accessed on June 13, 2014.

[Ausbaupläne_1910–1914-13] A ^b Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , pp. 21–23: Planning and route extensions between 1910 and 1914.

[14] Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 36 (company report 1915: moving in of drivers and first employment of women ).

[15] L. Werthmann (Ed.): The Freiburg hospitals in the war of nations: 1914/15 . Caristasverlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1915, pp. 152/153.

[16] Morning edition, Friday, October 13, 1916 .

[17] Freiburger Zeitung, Freiburger Zeitung, evening edition, Friday, October 13, 1916 .

[18] Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , p. 27: The time after the First World War.

[19] Andreas Peikert: Littenweiler has been part of Freiburg for 100 years. Badische Zeitung, January 8, 2014, accessed on June 13, 2014.

[20] Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , p. 33: The 30s.

[21] Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 77 (Betriebsbericht 1933: Tariff changes ).

[22] Heiko Hauman, Dagmar Rübsam, Thomas Schnabel, Gerd R. Ueberschär: Swastika over the town hall. From the dissolution of the Weimar Republic to the end of the Second World War (1930–1945). In: History of the city of Freiburg im Breisgau. Volume 3, Theis, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8062-0857-3 , p. 353 f.

[23] Dietmar Gemander, Thomas Hettinger: The Freiburg tram. The time before the light rail. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-88255-845-8 , pp. 36–37: The trolleybus traffic.

[24] Freiburger Verkehrs AG: Mobile City - The history of the tram in Freiburg. 2001, p. 83 (Betriebsbericht 1944/45: Damage after the bombing on November 27, 1914 ).

[25] Freiburg i. Br., Article for "Fahr Mit" , November 4, 1953.

[26] The Sputnik railcars on www.nahverkehr-breisgau.de

[27] Hans Sigmund: Freiburg North: When the tram drove to the church square. Badische Zeitung, March 22, 2010, accessed on February 7, 2013.

[28] Wiehre-Journal number 19 ( Memento from March 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), November / December 2009.


Baden-Württemberg	Freiburg im Breisgau \| Heilbronn \| Karlsruhe ( tram and light rail ) \| Kehl (Strasbourg) \| Heidelberg \| Mannheim \| Stuttgart \| Ulm \| Weil am Rhein (Basel)
Bavaria	Augsburg \| Munich \| Nuremberg \| Wurzburg
Berlin	Berlin
Brandenburg	Brandenburg an der Havel \| Cottbus \| Frankfurt (Oder) \| Potsdam \| Schöneiche near Berlin \| Strausberg \| Woltersdorf
Bremen	Bremen
Hesse	Darmstadt \| Frankfurt am Main ( tram and light rail ) \| Kassel ( tram and RegioTram )
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania	Rostock \| Schwerin
Lower Saxony	Braunschweig \| Hanover
North Rhine-Westphalia	Bielefeld \| Bochum / Gelsenkirchen ( tram and light rail ) \| Bonn \| Dortmund \| Duisburg ( tram and light rail ) \| Düsseldorf ( tram and light rail ) \| Essen ( tram and light rail ) \| Cologne \| Krefeld \| Mülheim / Oberhausen
Rhineland-Palatinate	Ludwigshafen am Rhein \| Mainz
Saarland	Saarbrücken
Saxony	Bad Schandau \| Chemnitz \| Dresden \| Goerlitz \| Leipzig \| Plauen \| Zwickau
Saxony-Anhalt	Dessau \| Halberstadt \| Halle (Saale) \| Magdeburg \| Naumburg (Saale)
Thuringia	Erfurt \| Gera \| Gotha \| Jena \| Nordhausen