Kaiserslautern tram
The Kaiserslautern tram was the tram system of the Palatinate city of Kaiserslautern . It existed from 1916 to 1935 and was initially operated by the private Kaiserslautern AG tram , later the city was responsible.
history
Tram Kaiserslautern AG
At the end of the 19th century, when Kaiserslautern had around 50,000 inhabitants, efforts were made to establish an inner-city means of transport. In 1913, the city council commissioned the electricity company Hecker & Co. GmbH from Wiesbaden to build and plan an electric tram.
In the years that followed, the tracks were laid for a standard-gauge rail network, which was initially to consist of a west-east line Waldstrasse – Friedhof and a south-north line Hauptbahnhof –Nordbahnhof. Shortly before the start of World War I in August 1914, the first of eleven railcars also arrived in Kaiserslautern. However, the war delayed the delivery of more vehicles. In addition, the release of the material for the overhead line had to be fought for in lengthy negotiations with the economic administration .
Tram Kaiserslautern AG was founded on May 21, 1915 ; the main shareholders were the city of Kaiserslautern and the company Hecker & Co , which also took over the management. Finally, on December 19, 1916, a "line of war" was put into operation on the completed network. It led from the main train station in a north-westerly direction via Breitscheidstraße to Wittelsbacherplatz (later: Pfaffplatz), then crossed the city center in an easterly direction via the torch roundabout and collegiate church and then reached its end at the cemetery via Altenwoogstraße and Mannheimer Straße. It was frequented mainly by soldiers from the barracks there. The depot including the power station was west of the main train station on Trippstadter Strasse.
When the economic situation improved, more routes could be opened. On September 15, 1925, three lines were in operation:
- 1 main station cemetery (white signal)
- 2 Round torch - Nordbahnhof (red signal)
- 3 Hauptbahnhof – Nordbahnhof (yellow signal)
The network thus reached its maximum extent of 9.3 kilometers, the line layout changed several times.
Urban tram
In 1928, the management of the company by Hecker & Co ended according to the contract , and the city took over the tram from then on. After a brief increase in the number of passengers transported, the Great Depression at the beginning of the 1930s forced severe restrictions so that only line 1 of the main station cemetery was operated.
The city did not want to spend any more money on the renovation of the network and vehicles. So it came to the cessation of the whole enterprise on July 1, 1935. The twelve existing railcars were sold to an old goods dealer in Bingen ; There were no sidecars .
On the same day, the tram was replaced by a municipal bus company, which initially ran five lines:
- 1 Railway repair shop - main station - cemetery
- 2 Gasworks – Central Station – Cemetery
- 3 Pfaffenbergstraße – Flare roundabout – Hauptbahnhof
- 4 Wiesenthalerhof – Rondel torch lights – Mainzer Tor
- 5 Railway repair shop –Rondel torch lights – Nordbahnhof
In 1939, eight city and suburban lines with a length of 53 kilometers were in operation. 15 buses were available for this. In 1949 the city received an electric means of transport again, the Kaiserslautern trolleybus .
See also
literature
- Dieter Höltge: German trams and light rail vehicles, Volume 4 Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland . Zeunert, Gifhorn 1981, ISBN 3-921237-60-2
- Herbert Hofmann: From the traffic history of the city of Kaiserslautern . In the magazine "Stadtverkehr" 1958, p. 74 ff.
- Roland Irmer: Die Elektrisch vun Lautre, history of the Kaiserslautern tram 1916-1935 . ProMessage 2007, ISBN 978-3-934845-33-6