Schöneiche tram near Berlin

Schöneiche tram near Berlin
SRS railcar at Friedrichshagen station (2011)
Basic information
Country	Germany
city	Schöneiche near Berlin
opening	August 28, 1910
electrification	November 5, 1914
operator	Schöneicher-Rüdersdorfer Straßenbahn GmbH
Transport network	VBB
Infrastructure
Route length	14.1 km
Gauge	1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Stops	20th
Depots	1
business
Lines	1
Clock in the peak hours	20 min (Mon-Fri) 30 min (Sat-Sun)
Clock in the SVZ	30 min (Mon-Fri) 60 min (Sat-Sun)
statistics
Passengers	1.0 million per year
Residents in the catchment area	23 thousand
Mileage	0.5 million km per year

The Schöneiche tram near Berlin is an interurban tram east of Berlin . Its only route is 14.1 kilometers long and has been given route number 88 in the Berlin-Brandenburg transport association (VBB). It runs from the Berlin-Friedrichshagen S-Bahn station via Schöneiche near Berlin to Rüdersdorf near Berlin . The operator has been the Schöneicher-Rüdersdorfer Straßenbahn GmbH , abbreviated to SRS , which belongs to the VBB, since January 1st, 1991 . The Schöneich tram is the only remaining meter-gauge tram in the Berlin area.

history

1910 to 1945

Benzoline locomotive 1 "Benzoline" (Deutz 1910) with a sidecar, 1911

In the spring of 1910, construction work on the Schöneich tram began. The line from Friedrichshagen to Schöneiche was single-track, 5.6 kilometers long and was made in meter gauge ( gauge 1000 millimeters). A benzene locomotive and a two-axle trailer car were available for commissioning on August 28, 1910 , with which the route was served every hour. In the first year, a further gasoline locomotive and four used two-axle former horse-drawn tram cars acquired from the Great Leipzig Tramway were procured for the compression to a 30-minute cycle .

On November 5, 1912, the route was extended by 7.7 kilometers to Kalkberge (district of Rüdersdorf from 1934). The Kalkberge tram, which was initially independent, bought three more locomotives, and a joint operation was carried out between Friedrichshagen and Schöneiche. Since the small Benzolloks had difficulties with the gradients in Kalkberge, the entire route was electrified and electrical operation began on May 30, 1914. Five four-axle railcars (Lindner / AEG) each with two electric motors of 40.4 kW hourly output, each with 30 seats and 17 standing places, were initially available, plus two four- and two two-axle sidecars. Right from the start, the railway was one of the first to have a chain contact line (on 86% of the route), the contact line masts could be set up at intervals of 90 meters.

The First World War interrupted the further development of the railway, after the war the streetcar association Schöneiche – Kalkberge GmbH even had to take out a loan. It received it from Berlin-based Knorr-Bremse AG on condition that the vehicles be equipped with Knorr compressed air braking systems. This is why the Schöneich Bahn was one of the first trams in Germany to have air brakes . Against this historical background, it tested compressors for the Berlin brake factory until the 1980s .

The growing number of inhabitants and the increasing number of excursions induced the company to double-track the section from Friedrichshagen to Schöneiche between 1926 and 1928. The section between the Schillerstraße and Grätzwalde stops followed soon afterwards, and Berghof-Weiche became a crossing point. This created the prerequisites for a 20-minute cycle to make suitable connections to Berlin's streets and S-Bahn . The project of a new tram route from Erkner via Woltersdorf and Rüdersdorf to Strausberg destroyed the Second World War .

1945 to 1990

The war left behind destroyed vehicles, damage to the superstructure and overhead lines, and burned operating documents. From August 19, 1945, trains ran every hour between Friedrichshagen and Schöneiche. On August 30, the Grätzwalde stop and on October 4 the Rüdersdorf depot were approached again, the terminal was reached on December 23 and initially half-hour traffic was introduced. Soon afterwards there was the usual 20-minute cycle again. The changed political conditions led to the dissolution of the GmbH. In 1945 it was transferred to a state-owned enterprise converted and carried from 1950 the designation VEB Verkehrsbetrieb Schoeneiche-Rüdersdorf .

At the beginning of the 1950s, the tracks in Friedrichshagener Straße were removed from the street space and relocated to a separate track. The previous stop at Knie has been replaced by the stop on Waldstrasse . In 1959, work began with a view to replacing the Friedrichshagen coupling point , and the end loop was built a year later . During this time the first concrete sleepers were installed and platform edges and modern bus shelters were built. The automatic Scharfenberg coupling was introduced on the vehicles . In the 1960s, five four-axle railcars and three trailer cars were built independently using old parts, such as railcar 52 (built in 1914; until 1966 Tw 2, new building in 1960, conversion to a one-way vehicle in 1975 ). Contrary to the trend at the time, this measure helped to maintain the railway. New car numbers were partially issued in 1956 and extensively in 1966.

In January 1970, the previously independent operation was subordinated to VEB Kraftverkehr Fürstenwalde and thus subsequently to the Kraftverkehrskombinat Frankfurt (Oder) . The self-construction of tram vehicles had to be stopped, but new Tatra vehicles were only intended for the Frankfurt tram . Although the company was able to obtain Rekowagen from the Reichsbahn repair shop in Berlin-Schöneweide , the two-axle vehicles with an axle base of 3200 millimeters, non-radially adjustable wheel sets and only single-stage suspension had unfavorable running characteristics. They caused considerable track damage, which resulted in increased maintenance costs. In addition, powered vehicles (TZ 70) and sidecars (BZ 70) were bidirectional vehicles, which would no longer have been necessary given the existing reversing loops. In later years, used Gotha and ČKD one-way vehicles from Halle and Görlitz as well as TE 70 from Frankfurt (Oder) were added.

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  End stop and loop Alt-Rüdersdorf (1990)

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  Train crossing at the Rüdersdorf depot (1990)

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  Slope from the Kalkgraben to the end point Alt-Rüdersdorf (1990)

Since the Kalkberge district was in the way of a planned expansion of the lime mine in the 1970s, the eastern end of the route was relocated and the route was extended. On October 15, 1977, operations between the post office and Karl-Marx-Platz ceased; on November 5 of the same year, the new end section to Alt-Rüdersdorf was opened. The total length of the route was now 14.5 kilometers. The VEB road transport had initially argued against the new road bridge over the Kalkgraben to make for the tram available. Ultimately, the financing from the Rüdersdorf cement plant was the decisive factor for the construction. The train crosses the watercourse on its own bridge superstructure next to the street space.

During the construction of the Alt-Rüdersdorf end loop, land was kept free for a new depot and the extension to Woltersdorf and Herzfelde . At the same time, a one-kilometer double-track section was set up between the Grätzwalde and Jägerstraße stations, so that despite the longer total route, a 20-minute cycle with only five trains could be carried out.

From 1979 to 1983, a modern safety system for the single-track sections of the route was developed and implemented together with Leipzig trams, despite great resistance from the combine. A shortage of staff - among other things, tram drivers were withdrawn to BVB in Berlin - led in 1988 to a temporary thinning of the offer with a 40-minute cycle. It was not until February 1990 that the train was able to run continuously every 20 minutes.

Since 1990

The rail network, the overhead line masts , the car fleet and the depot have been modernized since the 1990s . From 1999 to 2011, a total of fourteen six-axle articulated multiple units were taken over by the Heidelberg tram . A total of ten of these cars were gradually converted for use in Schöneiche, but they were never all in use at the same time. Two of these vehicles were taken out of service after serious accidents, others were withdrawn after the examination deadline.

The Nice-Rüdersdorfer streetcar GmbH since 2001 owns 70 percent of Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn AG , a subsidiary of Captrain Germany . The two communities Schöneiche and Rüdersdorf each own 15 percent. The existing transport contract is valid until the end of 2024.

In 2008, the manufacturer Stadler Rail repeatedly used the SRS route for test drives for new Variobahn railcars before they were delivered to BOGESTRA , because Schöneiche has the only meter-gauge tram in the vicinity of the Berlin plant and it does not have its own test route . In 2010, the takeover of three KTNF6s from Cottbus was announced, which means that vehicles with a low-floor section were used on the route for the first time . With the takeover of the first of the two Transtech Artic prototypes from Helsinki , the proportion of low-floor vehicles was further increased from autumn 2018. The former Helsinki railcar 402 was added to the fleet in Schöneiche under number 52. Furthermore, the former Cottbus KTNF6 No. 172 was taken over in 2014, which was sold to Szeged in 2009 . A conversion to the standard gauge failed in Szeged. The vehicle was completely examined on the chassis and car body side at Heiterblick GmbH in Leipzig, the final assembly takes place directly in the SRS workshop. After the arrival and commissioning of the Helsinki TW 401, the fleet in Schöneiche will consist of 4 vehicles with a low-floor center section and 2 consistently low-floor vehicles and a few GT6ZR.

The coaches of Schöneicher-Rüdersdorfer Straßenbahn GmbH now run on the route every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes from 9 p.m. At the weekend, they run every 30 minutes and in the evening every 60 minutes.

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  Schöneiche depot (1991)

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  Schöneiche depot (2013)

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  Duewag GT6Z in the Heidelberg colors (2004)

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  Graffito with Variobahn car in Schöneiche

route

Berlin-Friedrichshagen-Alt-Rüdersdorf

0.0 Berlin, Friedrichshagen S-Bahn station 0.6 Berlin, Brösener Strasse States of Berlin / Brandenburg 4.0 Schöneiche, Waldstrasse 4.6 Schöneiche, Goethepark Schöneiche, Rahnsdorfer Strasse Jaegergraben Schöneiche depot 5.6 Schöneiche, Dorfstrasse Fredersdorfer Mühlenfließ 6.0 Schöneiche, Dorfaue 6.7 Schöneiche, Schillerstrasse 7.1 Schöneiche, Graetzwalde 8.3 Schöneiche, Jägerstrasse 8.8 Schöneiche, Kalkberger Strasse Districts Oder-Spree / Märkisch-Oderland 9.8 Rüdersdorf, Berghof turnout 10.5 Rüdersdorf, Berghof A 10 11.2 Rüdersdorf, Torellplatz Strausberger Mühlenfließ 11.7 Rüdersdorf, Heinitzstrasse Rüdersdorf depot 12.0 Rüdersdorf, market square Rudersdorf, Post Route relocation in 1977 Rüdersdorf, Schulstrasse Rüdersdorf, Karl-Marx-Platz 12.4 Rüdersdorf, town hall Kalkgraben 12.9 Rüdersdorf, Breitscheidstrasse 13.5 Rüdersdorf, Marienstrasse 13.9 Alt-Rudersdorf

The starting point for the train is the Friedrichshagen stop in Berlin, in the immediate vicinity of the Berlin-Friedrichshagen S-Bahn station and two Berlin tram lines. It is part of the - counterclockwise driven - end loop, which replaced the coupling point in 1960. From there, the line runs on two tracks parallel to the dead straight, mostly in the forest, Schöneicher Strasse / Schöneicher Landstrasse. Shortly before the state border, turning south from the highway, it makes a long S-curve and reaches Schöneiche , which is already in the state of Brandenburg . The route initially runs through Kirschenstrasse and Puschkinstrasse. At Pyramidenplatz, the line becomes single-track and runs on its own track structure, past the depot and on through Dorfstraße.

After a 90-degree curve, the Fredersdorfer Mühlenfließ is crossed, then the route follows Schöneicher Straße in a lateral position on its own track. Another double-track section begins at the Schillerstraße stop and currently extends to the Kalkberger Straße station. The next "double lane island" is between the Berghof Weiche and Berghof stops. After crossing under the Bundesautobahn 10 (Berliner Ring), the first notable slope is reached on the outskirts of Rüdersdorf.

Behind the Torellplatz stop, which is designed as a passing point, the train changes the side of the street and leads in a lateral position along the Straße der Jugend in a single track over the Strausberger Mühlenfließ and further uphill. Immediately next to the Marktplatz stop, which also has two tracks, is the no longer used building of the Rüdersdorf depot.

At the post office the new route turns to the south-east, remains of the old track to the end point Kalkberge are still there. The buildings of the old town, which the tram crossed until 1977, were almost completely demolished without the planned expansion of the lime mine coming about. The old rails of the single-track line in Bergstrasse (now the Strasse der Jugend) and Redenstrasse are still there today, as are the remains of the former Wendeschleife Karl-Marx-Platz (located on an open space west of the Kesselsee).

The new single-track line descends next to Hans-Striegelski-Straße towards Kalkgraben , crosses it and climbs up again in a long curve on the side of Bergstraße and Marienstraße. The final stop Alt-Rüdersdorf is finally reached on the plateau . It is also in an end loop that is passed counterclockwise .

vehicles

1910 to 1989

TZ 70 and BZ 70 at the terminus Friedrichshagen, in the background the S-Bahn station

Rekowagen 74 ( Schöneweide 1974), 1990

Tw 52 (conversion in 1975 to a one-way car from Tw 2 (Lindner / AEG) from 1914)

No. 65 (1970; self-made Schöneiche tram), 1990

Construction year	Manufacturer	Numbers	from 1956	from 1966	Remarks
1910	Deutz	1 beautiful oak			two-axle petrol locomotive 13.3 kW, 4100 mm long
1910	Deutz	2 beautiful oaks			two-axle petrol locomotive 44.1 kW, 5300 mm long
1912	Deutz	1-3 limestone mountains			two-axle gasoline locomotives 44.1 kW, 5000 mm long
1914	Lindner / AEG	1	1		four-axle electric railcar parked in 1968
1914	Lindner / AEG	2	2	52	four-axle electric railcar , rebuilt in 1960. 1975 conversion to a one-way car
1914	Lindner / AEG	3	3	53	four-axle electric railcar converted to work railcar 93 in 1971
1914	Lindner / AEG	4 + 5	4 + 5	54 + 55	four-axle electric railcars parked in 1971
1914	Wagon construction Werdau	6 + 7			Acquired from Krefeld in 1923/24. In 1925, it was converted to work railcars 6 + 7
1915	Lindner / AEG	9			Loss of war
1915	Lindner / AEG	10	9 II		Shut down in 1969
1929	Lindner / AEG	31 + 32	7 II +8	71 + 72	Shut down in 1974
1929	Lindner / AEG	33	9 II		Shut down in 1966
1929	Lindner / AEG	34	10 II	74	1966 historic railcar 34
1964	Self-made / LEW		11	61	four-axle one-way wagon from 1985 track construction storage room
1966	Self-made / LEW			73	four-axle one-way car redesigned as 62 II in 1975 , again as 73 III historical Tw in 1996 , available and operational
1955	LVB (Hw Heiterblick) / LEW			62	Acquired from Leipzig in 1967, large-capacity car type 28 II No. 1100 II , created in 1956 from car bodies 946 and 929 (type 27). Rear door removed in Schöneiche, retired in 1975. The accompanying sidecar 2100, type 63, was given the number 134 in Schöneiche and was converted in the same way.
1968	Self-made / LEW			63	four-axle one-way car parked in 1986
1969	Self-made / LEW			64	four-axle one-way car parked in 1984
1970	Self-made / LEW			65	four-axle one-way trolley
1974	Raw Schöneweide			71 II -74 II	two-axle bidirectional wagon type TZ II 70/1 "Reko"
1975	Raw Schöneweide			75	two-axle bidirectional wagon type TZ II 70/1 "Reko"
1965	Waggonbau Gotha / LEW			81	two-axle one-way car in 1980 acquired from Halle in 1984 to Frankfurt (Oder)
1973	Raw Schöneweide / LEW			82	two-axle one-way car type TE II 70/1 "Reko" acquired in 1984 from Frankfurt (Oder) and parked in 1990
1974	Raw Schöneweide / LEW			83	two-axle one-way car type TE II 70/1 "Reko" acquired in 1984 from Frankfurt (Oder), sold to "enthusiasts" in 1990
1973	Raw Schöneweide / LEW			84 + 85	two-axle one-way car type TE II 70/1 “Reko” acquired in 1986 from Frankfurt (Oder) Car 84 parked in 1989
1968	ČKD / LEW			86	Two-axle one-way car type T2D acquired in 1989 from Görlitz
1964	Waggonbau Gotha / LEW			87	Two-axle one-way car acquired from Görlitz in 1989

1990 until today

Tatra KT4D

KT4D between Schöneiche and Rüdersdorf

The SRS took over between 1992 and 1994 a total of eight Tatra KT4 D from the Cottbus tram (No. 17-22, 24, 25), of which three (No. 18, 21 and 22) were modernized in 1995 and 1996, while the remaining vehicles were scrapped between 2000 and 2008. Due to expiring permits, cars 18 and 21 were initially parked. Motor car 22 remained in the fleet as an operating reserve. Since April 1, 2012, this type of vehicle is no longer used in Schöneiche.

DUEWAG GT6

Duewag GT6 at Friedrichshagen S-Bahn station

From 1999 to 2011, a total of fourteen six-axle articulated multiple units (GT6) from Duewag were taken over by the Heidelberg tram , ten of which were converted for use and four were used as spare parts donors. Two GT6 had to be taken out of service after serious accidents, others were withdrawn from service after the deadline. At the beginning of 2019, four cars were ready for use, another car serves as a work car. Although the route can in principle also be traveled without bidirectional vehicles, these offer greater flexibility in the event of construction sites or unforeseen disruptions.

Tatra Mountains KTNF6

KTNF6 in Schöneiche

Since the KT4D that were previously in operation had to be shut down , three Tatra KTNF6s , also from Cottbus, were taken over as replacements from 2009 to 2011 .

Transtech Artic

Artic in Schöneiche

In the summer of 2018, SRS initially took over the Artic prototype 402 from the Helsinki tram on a trial basis . After the trials were successfully completed, a contract was signed between SRS and Škoda Transtech to take over the two prototypes 401 and 402. Together with the partially low-floor KTNF6, they will make up the core of the vehicle fleet in the future. Car 402 has been in use as planned under the new car number 52 ^II since the end of October 2018. Car 401 was delivered to Schöneiche at the end of March 2019. The purchase of a third, brand-new vehicle was contractually agreed in September 2019.

literature

• Electrification of the Friedrichshagen – Schöneiche – Kalkberge tram . In: BEW-Mitteilungen . Issue 4, April 1915, pp. 49 ff .
• O. Armknecht: Introduction of electrical operation on the Friedrichshagen – Schöneiche – Kalkberge tram . In: Electrotechnical Journal . Issue 7, February 15, 1917, p. 91 ff .
• Reinhard Demps: 100 years ago: Start with benzene / From the beginnings of the Schöneich tram. In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter , Volume 37, Issue 5 (September / October 2010), pp. 130–134.
• Ivo Köhler: Railways to Schöneiche and Rüdersdorf . GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-047-4 .
• Ivo Köhler: 100 years of Schöneicher Rüdersdorfer trams . Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-941712-09-6 .
• Kletzke (Schöneiche tram): 80 years of Schöneiche tram . Lausitzer Rundschau printing and publishing house, 1990.

Web links

Commons : Tram Schöneiche near Berlin  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of Schöneicher-Rüdersdorfer Straßenbahn GmbH
• Website of the TRAM 88 e. V. - Friends of Schöneicher-Rüdersdorfer Tram

Individual evidence

1. ^ 80 Years of the Schöneiche Tramway (published in 1990 by the Schöneiche Tramway), pp. 1–2
2. ↑ ^{a b} The Schöneiche tram , in: Stadtverkehr 2/1991, p. 22 ff.
3. ^ Ivo Köhler: Railways to Schöneiche and Rüdersdorf . GVE, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89218-047-4 , pp. 50 .
4. ↑ Tom Gerlich: Variobahn as guest in Schöneiche. bahninfo.de, October 17, 2008, accessed on July 7, 2013 . 
5. ↑ ^{a b} 80 Years of the Schöneiche Tram (published in 1990 by the Schöneiche Tram), p. 42
6. ↑ 80 Years of the Schöneiche Tram (published in 1990 by the Schöneiche Tramway), p. 41
7. ↑ srs-tram.de
8. ↑ tram2000.blogspot.de
9. ^ Fritz R. Viertel: New trams and construction sites on line 88. In: schoeneiche-online.de. February 27, 2018, accessed March 30, 2018 . 
10. ↑ Barrier-free travel on line 88 in Schöneiche: First Artic tram handed over to passengers in Schöneiche. Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Planning Brandenburg, October 2018, accessed on November 15, 2018 . 
11. ↑ ŠkodaTranstech to Provide two trams to Germany's SRS . railway-technology.com, October 26, 2018; accessed on October 26, 2018
12. ↑ Second train arrived from Helsinki . In: Märkische Oderzeitung , March 28, 2019; accessed on April 2, 2019
13. ↑ PR ŠKODA TRANSTECH: ŠKODA TRANSTECH SOLD THE THIRD TRAMWAY TO THE GERMAN TOWN OF SCHÖNEICHE. Škoda Transportation as, April 23, 2019, accessed on October 2, 2019 . 

Coordinates: 52 ° 27 '59.1 "  N , 13 ° 48'19.7"  E