Klagenfurt tram

Central station lake
Route length:	5.782 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	800 V  =
Legend 0.090 Central Station 0.357 Tobacco factory 0.642 State government 0.793 Lidmanskygasse 0.990 Castle 1.093 Hotel Moser 1.232 New place 1.420 Heiligengeistplatz to Kreuzbergl / Zentralfriedhof (see below) 1.665 Villacher Ring 1,855 Lendhafen 2.155 Villacher Strasse 2,470 Rizzisteg 2.618 Morrestrasse 2.910 Railway bridge 3.170 Shadow courtyard 3,620 Upper loin 4.073 Paternioner 4.273 Lorettoweg 4,990 Klein Freienthurn 5.280 Plattenwirt 5,700 Military swimming school, lake (until 1935) 5.782 End of the line (until 1935) 5,400 See (from 1935) 5,860 See-Strandbad (from 1935)

Heiligengeistplatz – Kreuzbergl / cemetery
Route length:	4,335 km
Gauge :	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system :	800 V  =
Legend 0.000 from Abzw. Heiligengeistplatz (see above) 0.045 Heiligengeistplatz 0.152 Schiller Park 0.295 Sterneckstrasse 0.470 Khevenhüllerstrasse 0.565 West Schoolhouse 0.880 Kreuzbergl 0.892 End of the route 0.236 Theater square 0.504 Hay place 0.665 St. Veiter Ring 0.880 St. Veiter Strasse 1.170 State lunatic asylum 1,490 Glan Bridge 1,939 Goritschitzen 2,470 Ehrenthal 3.360 Central cemetery 3.443 End of the route

The Klagenfurt tram operated in various forms from 1891 to 1963 as the only tram in Carinthia to date , but was then replaced by more economical diesel buses .

In 2005, due to the extremely high level of particulate matter in Klagenfurt, the city senate proposed to resume tram operation . To this end, the city commissioned a feasibility study for 30,000 euros from the Innsbruck Institute for Transport and Spatial Planning . The study came to the conclusion that reintroduction would not make sense due to the extremely high costs of twelve to 20 million euros per tram kilometer with a passenger potential of only 12,500 people per day. The decisive factor was that on the part of state politics, the closure of the ÖBB - railway line along the Wörthersee and its replacement by an underground railway bypass line are to be expected in the medium to long term, which would have made it impossible to use this line for the purpose of realizing a city-regional railway; only as a city-regional train could a new Klagenfurt tram have had sufficiently large numbers of passengers.

history

Sidecar 101

Sidecar 60

In the years 1883 to 1885, various companies planned to operate horse, steam and even electric trams in Klagenfurt. At that time Klagenfurt already had almost 20,000 inhabitants, which justified the need for public transport . However, it was not until May 15, 1891, that the first license to operate a horse-drawn tram in Klagenfurt was granted to the private company Springer & Co., which began a trial run shortly afterwards. On June 30, 1891, operations on the Südbahnhof - Heiligengeist Platz - See route opened. The company had a large number of summer wagons, three winter wagons and at peak times up to 24 horses. For many years the operation was profitable and effective, also thanks to the low personnel costs. The transport services were remarkable. The best performance was recorded for 1910 - also the last year of the horse-drawn tram - with 386,766 people transported.

In 1910, Siemens began building an electric tram on behalf of the city, which last also operated the horse-drawn tramway. This was opened on May 6, 1911 with the train station – Theaterplatz line. In the same year, the route network was largely expanded. In 1935 - when Klagenfurt was switched to right-hand traffic - the rail line was moved from the military swimming school to the newly opened lido. This line was very popular in summer. Right from the start (1911), the open “summer wagons” that had been taken over from the horse-drawn tramway were used on the lake line. The enthusiasm of the people of Klagenfurt for these vehicles was so great that a further order for this type of car, with slightly technical modifications, was placed.

However, the lack of investment and, until the end, mostly single-lane routes caused problems. In 1944 the tram on the Kreuzbergl was switched to the trolleybus after irreparable bomb damage . From 1948 on, diesel buses were also used, and the municipal council decided on May 6, 1954 to shut down the tram. First it hit the line to the lake - in the same year - and in 1961 the line to Annabichl was discontinued. The gradual changeover to buses ended on April 16, 1963 with the last tram ride on the Heiligengeist Platz - Hauptbahnhof line. The trolleybus also ended its operation in Klagenfurt that day.

The open summer wagons were put on playgrounds in various Klagenfurt parks after they were closed and were later partially restored by the Museum Tramway Association.

Lines

The first line was the horse-drawn tram from the Südbahnhof via Burggasse to Heiligengeistplatz, from there next to the Lend Canal on Villacher Strasse to the military swimming school on Lake Wörthersee. Up to 15 horse-drawn tram cars were in use on the 5.7 km long route, each pulled by a horse.

The electric tram began with the train station – Theaterplatz route, followed in 1911 by the Theaterplatz – Kreuzbergl, Heiligengeistplatz – Railway Bridge (near Stone Bridge) –See, Theaterplatz – Landesirrenanstalt – Annabichl / Friedhof lines. This resulted in a route network of less than 20 kilometers. Up until the end of the tram in 1963 - apart from small local changes - no more extensions were made to the rail route. The trams were already in full use right from the start: on the most important lines every seven and a half minutes, otherwise every quarter of an hour. By the end of the Klagenfurt tram in 1963, a total of 277.5 million passengers were carried.

Line names

Line A

• Heiligengeistplatz - Central Cemetery (Annabichl)

Line K

• Central station - Kreuzbergl

Line S

• Heiligengeistplatz - lake, military swimming school

Vehicle fleet

Railcar

No.:	Construction year:	Manufacturer:	Retired:	Others:
1	1911	Graz wagon factory	1952
2	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961
3	1911	Graz wagon factory	1960	turned off in 1954
4th	1911	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1954
5	1911	Graz wagon factory	1963	Rebuilding SGP Graz in 1949 after losing the war
6th	1911	Graz wagon factory	1963	Rebuilding SGP-Graz in 1948 after being lost in the war
7th	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961
8th	1911	Graz wagon factory	1963	Rebuilding SGP Graz in 1949 after losing the war
9	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961	shut down in 1960
10	1911	Graz wagon factory	1963	Rebuilding SGP-Graz in 1948 after being lost in the war
11	1911	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1954
12	1911	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1954
13	1911	Graz wagon factory	1944
14th	1911	Graz wagon factory	1944	Chassis for Bw 50
15th	1911	Graz wagon factory	1954
16	1912	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1955
17th	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961
18th	1911	Graz wagon factory	1963	Rebuilding SGP-Graz in 1947 after being lost in the war
19th	1901	Graz wagon factory	1956	1939 takeover from Dornbirn; turned off in 1953
20th	1901	Graz wagon factory	1952	1939 Takeover from Dornbirn
21st	1901	Graz wagon factory	1958	1939 takeover from Dornbirn; turned off in 1956
22nd	1942	Simmeringer wagon factory	1960	turned off in 1959
23	1942	Simmeringer wagon factory	1963
24	1942	Simmeringer wagon factory	1963	1947 to 1949 as Bw 24

sidecar

No.:	Construction year:	Manufacturer:	Retired:	Others:
50	1948	SGP-Graz	1961	on chassis Tw 14
51	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961	shut down in 1960
52	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961	shut down in 1960
53	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961	Rebuilding SGP-Graz in 1948 after being lost in the war
54	1911	Graz wagon factory	1960	turned off in 1957
55	1911	Graz wagon factory	1960	turned off in 1957
56	1911	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1954
57	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961	Rebuilding SGP-Graz in 1948 after being lost in the war
58	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961	shut down in 1960
59	1911	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1957
60	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961	Rebuilding SGP-Graz in 1948 after being lost in the war
61	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961	shut down in 1960
62	1911	Graz wagon factory	1961	shut down in 1960
63	1912	Graz wagon factory	1961
64	1912	Graz wagon factory	1961	shut down in 1960
65	1902	Graz wagon factory	1956	1939 takeover from Dornbirn; turned off in 1955
66	1902	Graz wagon factory	1957	1939 takeover from Dornbirn; turned off in 1953
67	1902	Graz wagon factory	1944	1939 Takeover from Dornbirn
68	1902	Graz wagon factory	1958	1939 takeover from Dornbirn; turned off in 1953
69	1902	Graz wagon factory	1944
70	1912	Graz wagon factory	1945	1943 takeover from Salzburg; Loss of war
71	1912	Graz wagon factory	1948	1943 takeover from Salzburg; Loss of war

Summer sidecar

No.:	Construction year:	Manufacturer:	Retired:	Others:
101	1926	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1953
102	1926	Graz wagon factory	1945	Loss of war; Conversion to a lorry
103	1926	Graz wagon factory	1945	Loss of war; Conversion to a lorry
104	1926	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1953
105	1926	Graz wagon factory	1957	turned off in 1953
106	1926	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1953
107	1926	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1953
108	1926	Graz wagon factory	1958	turned off in 1953
109	1926	Graz wagon factory	1961	Conversion from horse-drawn carriage; turned off in 1953
110	1926	Graz wagon factory	1958	Conversion from horse-drawn carriage; turned off in 1953
111	1926	Graz wagon factory	1958	Conversion from horse-drawn carriage; turned off in 1953
112	1926	Graz wagon factory	1957	Conversion from horse-drawn carriage; turned off in 1953
113	1926	Graz wagon factory	1945	Conversion from horse-drawn carriage; Loss of war

Lendcanal tramway and sea tramway

→ Main article : Lendcanaltramway

According to a decision by the Klagenfurt City Senate, the Klagenfurt Seetramway could operate here in the future

Even when the public tram was still in use, there were plans to preserve the tram cars. In 1969 the Association of Carinthian Railway Friends (today “Carinthian Museum Railways ”) was founded. Along with other railways in Carinthia that are worthy of preservation, the Klagenfurt tram was one of the most important issues for the association. As a result, 40 cars from European tram companies from different eras could be collected in 1975. In the summer of 1976, near the Europapark in the Lendspitz nature reserve, the " Lendcanaltramway " museum railway was built , which is now operated by the " Nostalgiebahnen in Kärnten " association in the summer months as an electric tramway, and less often as a horse-drawn tramway. The route is 750 meters long and has four stops and a four-track coach house. An extension of the route has been planned for a long time, which was delayed, for example, by plans for a congress center in this nature reserve, from which the Lindner Seepark Hotel later emerged.

On January 27, 2009, the Klagenfurt City Senate unanimously decided to support a tourist tram company in the Minimundus lido area with the project name Seetramway. However, this is only a fundamental decision without a specific financial allocation. In November 2009 the Vice Mayor of Klagenfurt, Albert Gunzer, informed the Proponentenverein that he saw no possibility within two years that the municipality of Klagenfurt could contribute financially to the project. Ex-City Councilor Kurt Peterle, Hansgeorg Prix (Nostalgiebahnen) and architect Harald Omansiek announced in September 2011 that they wanted to submit the project for around 4.5 million euros for approval in 2011. Despite multiple efforts, however, it was not possible to obtain coverage. The budget of the city of Klagenfurt, already heavily burdened by various large projects, does not allow the project to be financed. No change is expected in this regard for 2018 either.

literature

• Gerhard Mayr, Hansgeorg Prix: The Klagenfurt tram . Verlag Johannes Heyn, Klagenfurt 1982, ISBN 3-85366-376-1 .
• Wolfgang Kaiser: Trams in Austria . GeraMond Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-7654-7198-4 .
• Harald Hermann, Alfred Laula: Tram in Klagenfurt . Verlag Josef Otto Slezak, Vienna 1981, ISBN 3-900134-73-1 .

Web links

• Museum tramway
• Preserved rail vehicles

Individual evidence

1. ↑ klagenfurt.at ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ klagenfurt.at ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Jochen Habich: Klagenfurt tramway project is picking up speed again ( Memento from October 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: Small newspaper. September 22, 2011.