Karlsruhe tram

Karlsruhe tram
Type GT6-70D / N tram on Kaiserstraße
Basic information
Country	Germany
city	Karlsruhe
opening	January 21, 1877
electrification	February 10, 1900
operator	Karlsruhe Transport Authority (VBK)
Transport network	KVV
Infrastructure
Route length	71.5 km
Gauge	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system	750 volts DC voltage
Operating mode	Furnishing operation
Stops	105
Depots	2
business
Lines	6 (+ 4 student lines)
Clock in the peak hours	10 min
Clock in the SVZ	20 min
vehicles	GT6-70D / N (45), GT8-70D / N (25), NET 2012 (25)
statistics
Reference year	2012
Passengers	99.4 million per year
Residents in the catchment area	296 thousand
Mileage	9.2 million km
As of December 2015

The Karlsruhe tram is the second rail-based public transport system in Karlsruhe , alongside the Stadtbahn .

The standard-gauge tram network operated by Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe (VBK) extends over a total length of 76 kilometers and is also partly used by the Stadtbahn. The tram is part of the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (KVV) and consists of seven regular and three special lines.

The network goes back to the horse-drawn tram that was opened in 1877 , to which a steam tram was added in 1881 . From 1900 the network was electrified and expanded.

history

Horse and steam train

In the course of the industrial revolution , the city of Karlsruhe also grew far beyond its previous city limits in the 19th century . Between 1850 and 1890 alone, the number of inhabitants quadrupled to almost 100,000, making it necessary to create a better local transport system. First a horse-drawn tram was proposed in 1869, but initially unsuccessfully. The city of Karlsruhe only opened the first horse-drawn tramway from Gottesauer Platz to Mühlburger Tor in an east-west direction on January 21, 1877. In the same year, a branch line to the old main station followed, as well as an extension from the Mühlburger Tor to the neighboring town of Mühlburg, about two kilometers to the west . The railway was standard gauge.

Route network of the horse and steam tram around 1885

In order to also connect the city of Durlach , located about four kilometers east of Karlsruhe, the network was supplemented on July 16, 1881 by a further line from Durlacher Tor to Durlach. Because of the greater distance, this connection was operated as a steam tram. After 1881, the tram network remained unchanged for 19 years.

Horse and steam trams did not show great economic success. The number of passengers rose continuously from 1.6 million in 1882 to 2.5 million in 1893 and 3.6 million in 1899, but the company's financial situation was poor. In the first years of its existence, the owners of the railway changed several times until a permanent solution was found with the founding of the United Karlsruhe, Mühlburger and Durlacher Horse and Steam Railway Company . In 1893 the company owned five steam locomotives for the route to Durlach, 46 horses and 32 wagons, 15 of which were for the steam trains.

electrification

Lot at Durlacher Tor in 1900/1901 with two railcars of the original design and a parked sidecar. At the left edge of the picture the former station building of the steam train to Durlach

One of the first generation railcars on Moltkestrasse, after 1907

In 1894, AEG took over the Karlsruhe horse and steam railway and founded the Karlsruhe tram company with the aim of converting it into an electric tram company. At first, concerns that the electrical overhead lines would spoil the cityscape and the electrical railways would disrupt the measuring devices of the technical university delayed this project. It was not until 1900 that the tram network could be electrified, but the compromise within the Karlsruhe city center provided for overhead lines to be dispensed with and instead operation with accumulator railcars.

The first electric tram service between Durlacher Tor and Durlach on the former steam tram line could be opened on February 10, 1900, with the last ride of the horse-drawn tram on March 19, the changeover was completed. For electrical operation, 46 two-axle electric railcars had been procured, 19 of which could only run on the external routes to Mühlburg and Durlach with overhead lines, while the other 27 cars could also be used in the city center thanks to the built-in accumulators. Three years later, the inner city routes were also provided with an overhead line and the battery operation was abandoned so that all cars could be used freely.

In the years that followed, the tram network was expanded to include some routes to the newly created suburbs (Oststadt, Weststadt, Südweststadt) and the nearby neighboring town of Beiertheim . However, the railway lines running through the middle of the city hindered the expansion considerably, so that not all of the planned extensions could be implemented. The importance of the tram for urban development prompted the city of Karlsruhe to acquire the tram operation from AEG in 1903 and to continue to operate it as a municipal operation. Due to the accelerated traffic compared to the horse and steam operation and the expansion of the network, the number of passengers rose rapidly. In 1901, 6.8 million passengers were counted, and by 1912 the number had reached 15.9 million.

Development up to the Second World War

The development of the Karlsruhe tram network was hampered at the beginning of the 20th century by the numerous level crossings in the city, which the trams were not allowed to cross or only with restrictions. Therefore, some of the desired extensions, for example to the southern part of the city, only became possible with the relocation of the Karlsruhe main station in 1913, so that the route network was extended to the south in the following years. However, the First World War partially delayed these expansions until 1921.

A two-axle train in Kaiserstraße near Europaplatz, 1961. The railcar is one of the mirror cars acquired at the end of the 1920s

In 1915 the meter-gauge Karlsruhe local railway was taken over by the city of Karlsruhe and incorporated into the city tram. However, the meter gauge operation soon became uneconomical, so that most of the sections were shut down by 1938. Meter gauge operation finally ended on the last stretch to Hagsfeld in 1955.

After the passenger numbers rose steadily until the First World War and reached a temporary high of 56.3 million in 1919, they fell to just 21 million due to the economic hardship after the war and the hyperinflation in 1923/24. By 1925 they were able to recover and reached a level of around 40 million passengers annually. The economic recovery after 1924 made it possible to expand the route network to neighboring towns such as Knielingen (1925), Daxlanden (1928) and Rintheim (1929). Also in 1929, the newly opened Rheinstrandbad on the island of Rappenwört could be connected as Karlsruhe's first outdoor pool . Due to the lack of development in the area of ​​the route, however, until 1997 it was only used in summer during the bathing season. The global economic crisis made further route extensions impossible in the following years. The number of passengers fell and the need for subsidies increased. Efforts to rationalize by using sidecars instead of additional trains were the result.

Tram route network 1930

Second World War

During the Second World War , the tram was also affected. At first, the war made itself felt mainly through a lack of personnel and material, so that, as in the First World War, women were used as conductors and drivers, while in peacetime until the beginning of the 1990s the workforce consisted only of men. Darkening measures were ordered to protect against air raids: headlights and windows were partially covered by blinds ; In addition, the tram cars were given a gray camouflage. Due to a lack of fuel, the use of trucks was only possible to a limited extent, so that during the war years the tram took over the transport of mail between the main train station and the main post office as well as the transport of fruit and vegetables from the market hall to various retailers. As in the First World War, the number of passengers rose significantly in the Second World War and in 1943 they reached 66 million passengers. From 1941 onwards, air raids led to damage to the tram routes, with the massive attacks in 1944 in particular causing the tram traffic to be partially suspended and only to be able to be put back into operation on parts of the route. In addition to the damage to the route network, two railcars and three sidecars were totally destroyed.

Modernization and expansion

After the occupation of Karlsruhe in April 1945, tram operations were gradually put back into operation. The reconstruction was completed by 1950, although some bridges were only temporarily repaired. With the normalization of conditions, fruit, vegetable and mail traffic by tram also ended.

A KSW with a two-axle sidecar in 1961 at the newly created duck catcher

Soon after the Second World War, a structural change in urban development began, which had a significant impact on local public transport, including in Karlsruhe. New, large settlements emerged on the periphery that had to be connected. From the 1960s onwards, processes of suburbanization intensified , which led to strong growth in neighboring communities and continues to this day. At the same time, the economic structure changed: the large factories in the urban area were given up, while new industrial and commercial areas were created on the outskirts .

With the emergence of mass motorization , the tram got more and more competition, and the increasing amount of car traffic also increasingly led to obstructions on tram routes.

In contrast, the tram network at the beginning of the 1950s was still at the level of 1930. The difficult economic situation of the 1930s, lack of materials and destruction during the Second World War made it impossible to modernize the vehicles and systems.

In contrast to many other cities, which took this situation as an opportunity to shut down their tram network , Karlsruhe began to modernize the network: by 1980, 75 percent of the route network was laid on its own track, independent of car traffic, and - with the exception of four short sections - had two tracks expanded. In several places the tram routes had to be relocated in wider parallel streets. In 1974 a pedestrian zone was set up in the city center , through which the tram continues to run. On Omnibusbetrieb was changed only the short branch line to Beiertheim in 1956. The construction of new lines from 1953 net gaps closed and newly created districts could be connected to the tram network. The Waldstadt in 1960, the Northwest City in 1975, the Rheinstrandsiedlung in 1980 and Oberreut in 1986 received their rail connections.

On February 1, 1986, the last compulsory stop in the tram network was lifted. This was the forest road in Rintheim, where the trains in the direction of the city center had to stop for safety reasons. Since then, all stations have only been served as required . Furthermore, on March 16, 1986, colored line numbers were reintroduced for better recognition, but only partially corresponded to the color scheme that was abolished in 1958. Only line A retained its marking with black letters on a white background.

Typical for Karlsruhe in the past: Berlin coat of arms and district name indicating the origin of the vehicles (DWM or Waggon Union in Berlin)

Creation and integration of the light rail

With the takeover of the Albtalbahn and the Busenbach – Ittersbach railway by the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG) in 1957 and their re-gauging and connection to the tram network, the AVG wagons also ran on the rails of the Karlsruhe transport company and provided a direct connection between them Surrounding area and city center. The Karlsruhe Stadtbahn finally emerged from the integration of the Hardtbahn and the later dual-system tram operation . With the establishment of the Karlsruhe Transport Association in 1994, a uniform tariff system was set up.

Despite the extensive modernization, the number of passengers stagnated between 1950 and 1985 at around 40 million a year. Only with the expansion of the network from the 1980s, clocked operation, more attractive fares and greater environmental awareness among the population did the number of passengers increase. In 1996 the tram had already carried 66 million passengers.

Track plan 2013

Current situation

The further expansion of the route network has been slower since the mid-2000s due to cuts in state and federal subsidies under the Municipal Transport Financing Act .

The latest extensions to the route network are the tram routes in Brauerstraße (2000), to the European School (2000), to Wolfartsweier (2004) and to Nordstadt (2006). In 2008, another depot was put into operation in Karlsruhe's Oststadt.

On March 3, 2011, construction began on the route from Tullastrasse through Schlachthofstrasse and Ludwig-Erhard-Allee to Baumeisterstrasse ( Südostbahn and Südostbahn trams ), which was approved on December 6, 2010 . The 2.2 kilometer long and around 30 million euro expensive route with four new stops was opened after 18 months of construction on September 8, 2012 (originally planned for the 2012/2013 timetable change in December 2012, it was brought forward due to rapid construction progress) and is being carried out The extended line 6 from the main station is served every ten minutes.

Current line network

Since November 18, 2013, operations from the market square in a southerly direction to the confluence of Rüppurrer Strasse and Ettlinger Strasse have been suspended. In Ettlinger Strasse, bus line 10 is a replacement rail service between the main train station, the congress center and Ettlinger Tor.

line	Line route	annotation
1	Durlach Turmberg - Auer Strasse / Dr. Willmar Schwabe - Tullastraße / Verkehrsbetriebe - Durlacher Tor - Market Square - Europaplatz - Schillerstraße - Weinbrennerplatz - Europahalle - Oberreut Badeniaplatz
2	Wolfartsweier - Aue - Auer Straße / Dr. Willmar Schwabe - Tullastrasse / Verkehrsbetriebe - Durlacher Tor - Rüppurrer Tor - Central Station - ZKM - Karlstrasse - Europaplatz - Yorckstrasse - Municipal Clinic - Siemensallee - Lasallestrasse
3	Tivoli - Central Station - Karlstor - Europaplatz - Mühlburger Tor - Art Academy / University - Neureut-Heide
4th	Europaviertel - Jägerhaus - Waldstadt - Hirtenweg / Technology Park - Main Cemetery - Durlacher Tor - Market Square - Europaplatz - Karlstrasse - Central Station - Tivoli
5	Rintheim - main cemetery - Durlacher Tor - Rüppurrer Tor - Konzerthaus - Mathystraße - Weinbrennerplatz - Kühler Krug - Entenfang - Rheinhafen
6th	Hirtenweg / Technology Park - Main Cemetery - Tullastraße - Gottesaue Castle / University of Music - Ostendstraße - Konzerthaus - Karlstor - Europaplatz - Entenfang - Daxlanden (- Rappenwört)	Not all trains go to Rappenwört
8th	Wolfartsweier - Aue - Durlach	only individual trips in school traffic, public
16	Duck fishing - European school	School tram, not public
17th	Cool jug - European school
18th	Durlach - European School

All tram lines run every ten minutes on weekdays. In addition, the AVG light rail lines operate in cooperation with the transport companies in the Karlsruhe tram network based on the “ Karlsruhe model ”. There are also three so-called school trams that go to the European School in Waldstadt in the morning and from there back to the city at noon. They are not listed in the public timetables, only pupils of the European School are allowed to ride. On September 10, 2016, line 8 from Durlach to Wolfartsweier was largely suspended for cost reasons. The Association Pro Bahn is committed to maintaining line 8 and has set itself the goal of reactivation. This savings package also includes the occasional turning of every second tram on line 4 at the Jägerhaus loop, reducing the frequency of line 5 during the summer holidays and restricting night traffic as described below.

Night traffic

Since December 14, 2008, a tram line called NL1 / NL2 has been running every hour all night, every day. It is a common circuit of the eastern part of line 1 with a "ring" through the city center. A night bus line (NL6) and three collective call taxis (ALT11, ALT12, ALT13) are waiting at the end of NL1 . Since the offer was improved in spring 2009, the night cycle begins at 1:30 a.m. (initially 0:30 a.m.). The last night cycle runs at 6:30 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. After the end of the 2016 summer vacation, continuous night traffic was largely stopped again on the nights from Sunday to Monday through Thursday to Friday.

vehicles

Current fleet of vehicles

image	Type	Manufacturer	delivery	number	Numbers
	GT6-70D / N	Duewag / Siemens	1995-2005	45	221-265
	GT8-70D / N	Duewag / Siemens	1999 - 2003	25th	301-325
	NET 2012	Vossloh / Stadler Rail	2014-2019	75	326-400

The vehicles of the type NET 2012 are used together with the AVG for the lines S1 and S11 in a vehicle pool.

Tullastrasse depot

Vehicle history

The first cars that were procured from the Karlsruhe tram for electrification were 27 two-axle accumulator railcars from Herbrand and 19 similar cars without accumulators from Lindner . These were retired from the 1930s due to their low engine power.

From 1913 to 1926, 36 multiple units and 52 side cars of the Residenzwagen type were procured, which were obtained from various manufacturers. They shaped the image of the Karlsruhe tram until the 1960s.

From 1929 to 1941, a total of 20 railcars and 10 sidecars of the type Spiegelwagen were procured for the high-volume lines , which were based on the construction of the residence cars , but were one meter longer. The Rastatt wagon factory was the manufacturer of all mirror cars .

Tram car type GT8-D (No. 197) at the Marktplatz stop (1993)

The vehicle fleet was fundamentally renewed by purchasing 15 four-axle T4 open- plan cars from 1954 and eight four-axle T4-EP open- plan cars from 1958 and 75 six- and eight-axle articulated railcars of the type GT6-EP , GT6-D and GT8-D between 1959 and 1978, so that the two-axle wagons from the pre-war period could retire from passenger service until the early 1970s. In 1969, the new vehicles also made it possible to introduce conduct-less operations and thus a further step towards rationalization.

Between 1958 and 1969, AVG procured 21 articulated railcars, which were produced by the Düwag and Rastatt wagon factories, to change the gauge of the Albtalbahn and the Busenbach – Ittersbach railway line from meter to standard gauge . By linking these routes with the tram network, these cars also ran on the tram network from the start. From 1983 onwards, they were no longer used on the Stadtbahn routes, but instead operated on the Karlsruhe tram network. From 1995 they were gradually phased out until the mid-2000s.

In 1981, the Karlsruhe tram took over ten GT8 articulated multiple units from the Dortmund tram . They were in regular use until 1983 and were scrapped between 1985 and 1990.

Since the mid-1990s, the vehicle fleet has been renewed through the procurement of low-floor cars , so that the articulated multiple units from the 1960s and 1970s could largely be taken out of service. The older vehicles were only used on line 5 until May 22, 2015, because the wider low-floor wagons were not allowed to meet on this route and, after the barrier-free conversion of this route, not enough trams were available, so that route 5 took several months was separated in the west and east.

Planning

Connection of the residential area Knielingen 2.0

A first fundamental decision from 1987 to connect Knielingen to rail traffic was followed by two planning stops in 1994 and 2004. However, it was not until 2008 that the development plan for Knielingen 2.0 contained the extension. In 2010 the VBK initiated the planning approval procedure. The approval of the municipal council took place in 2016, that of the regional council a year later.

The plans envisage that the previous final stop Lasallestraße will be omitted and the approximately 1.5 km long new line will have the barrier-free stops Sudetenstraße, Pionierstraße, Egon-Eiermann-Allee and, as the end point, with a turning loop, Knielingen-Nord. The project envisages investments of 14 million euros, in which the state of Baden-Württemberg is contributing 6.1 million euros. The VBK are aiming for the expansion to open in autumn 2020.

Preparatory work began in February 2019 with the clearing of trees. The groundbreaking was on April 29, 2019.

Extension of line 3

Further, long-term plans exist for the extension of line 3 from the Heide to the Kirchfeldsiedlung as well as for a crossbar through the Pulverhausstraße to connect the Heidenstückersiedlung.

Light rail tunnel

→ Main article : Combined solution (Karlsruhe)

As early as the 1960s, there were considerations of building a tram tunnel in downtown Karlsruhe. When the load on the central Kaiserstraße traffic axis increased due to the expansion of the tram and light rail network in the 1980s and 1990s, new plans for a tunnel were made. After the first plans were rejected in a referendum in 1996, the project was modified and confirmed in a further referendum in 2002. The tram tunnel has been under construction since the beginning of 2010.

The project consists of several parts:

• the construction of a double-track tram tunnel for several tram and light rail lines in east-west direction under the Kaiserstraße between Durlacher Tor and Mühlburger Tor with a branch from the market square to the south to Augartenstraße
• the construction of a double-track tram route in Kriegsstrasse between Karlstor and Mendelssohnplatz and the construction of a road tunnel there
• the dismantling of the above-ground tram tracks in Kaiserstraße between Europaplatz and Kronenplatz .

Construction site of the tunnel stop at Europaplatz in February 2012

The city of Karlsruhe initially put the cost of the project at 496 million euros . The current, supplemented funding notification assumes total costs of 638 million euros with an own contribution of 240 million euros.

The city expects the project to relieve the city center of tram and car traffic, to gain urban planning leeway through the elimination of the tram tracks in the pedestrian zone and the reconstruction of the Kriegsstrasse as well as the creation of additional capacity in the tram network. Above all, the high costs, the insufficient performance and the restrictions due to the necessary construction work are criticized.

The tram tunnel was originally supposed to be completed by the end of 2016, the current status is now at the end of 2020. The reconstruction of the Kriegsstrasse is to take place in 2015 by the end of 2021.

A privately financed art installation by Markus Lüpertz is planned at seven stations along the new route . It is supposed to bear the title Genesis and is contentwise and structurally controversial.

Special stop on the occasion of the castle festival

A special feature of the Karlsruhe tram for many years was the temporary additional stop at Hoepfner Burgfest on the occasion of the event of the same name, which takes place annually at Whitsun. The provisional station was located between the regular stops Karl-Wilhelm-Platz and Hauptfriedhof and was served by all lines operating there in both directions. It thus opened up directly to the main entrance of the festival organizer, the Hoepfner private brewery . In 2019, the transport companies waived this service for the first time, with reference to the barrier-free expansion of the Hauptfriedhof stop that has now taken place.

literature

• Manfred Koch (Ed.): Under power. History of local public transport in Karlsruhe. Badenia, Karlsruhe 2000, ISBN 3-7617-0324-4 ( Publications of the Karlsruhe City Archives 20).
• Dieter Höltge: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany. Volume 6: Bathing. EK-Verlag, Freiburg (Breisgau) 1999, ISBN 3-88255-337-5 .

Web links

Commons : Tram Karlsruhe  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the operator Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe
• Website of the combined solution Karlsruhe (tram tunnel)
• Tram , Nordstadtbahn , tram chronicle , combined solution in the Stadtwiki Karlsruhe

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Annual report 2012 of Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe GmbH. (No longer available online.) Vbk.info, January 2013, archived from the original on March 27, 2014 ; accessed on March 14, 2014 .  
2. ↑ The historical corner . In: der Weichenbengel - information brochure of the meeting point for rail transport Karlsruhe e. V, number 1/01, pp. 38-39
3. ↑ KVV: Flyer Südostbahn ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 1.50 MB), accessed on April 20, 2011.
4. ↑ As planned, trains will run again in eastern Kaiserstraße from November 18 - the southern branch on Marktplatz will be closed for about two years ( memento from September 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ ka-news.de: Bye bye line 8: Tram line in Durlach will be closed from Sunday | ka-news . In: ka-news.de . September 10, 2016 ( ka-news.de [accessed November 16, 2016]).
6. ↑ Ramona Holdenried: Wait 30 years: When will Knielingen-Nord get a train connection? In: ka-news . July 28, 2017, accessed January 5, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Julia Wessinger: "Knielingen 2.0": Railways will reach new quarter in 2020. In: ka-news . July 28, 2017, accessed January 5, 2020 . 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Karin Stenftenagel: Karlsruhe's rail network is growing: Four new stops for Knielingen 2.0. In: Baden's latest news . April 30, 2019, accessed August 24, 2019 .  
9. ^ Jo Wagner: Tree felling work for a new railway line in Knielingen-Nord. In: wochenblatt-reporter.de. February 6, 2019, accessed August 24, 2019 .  
10. ^ Municipal council request for the GR meeting on November 17, 2009
11. ↑ KASIG website
12. ↑ Train instead of car: VBK set up an additional stop for Hoepfner Burgfest , article from June 2, 2017 on ka-news.de, accessed on February 24, 2020
13. ↑ Whitsun is Burgfest time: This time without its own stop, but again with a lot of program , article from June 5, 2019 on ka-news.de, accessed on February 24, 2020