Tramway Worms

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disused tram
Tramway Worms
Basic information
Country Germany
city Worms
opening Dec 21, 1906
Shutdown Jan. 29, 1956
operator Worms tram
Infrastructure
Route length 10.2 km
Gauge 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Power system 550 V DC pantograph
business
Lines 3
vehicles The electric

The Worms tram was the tram system of the city of Worms . The responsible transport company was the Worms tram , a municipal company owned by the city. The Worms called them " Die Elektrisch ".

Emergence

After the city decided to build an electric tram in March 1905, AEG was commissioned as general contractor with the construction of the line, the establishment of the depot and the workshop and the delivery of the vehicles in January 1906. The city received the grand ducal concession for 50 years. It was built from July to December 1906. The gauge was 1000 mm ( meter gauge ). At the time of the inauguration, the length of the single-track lines with diversions was 9.39 km. Personnel training began on December 6, 1906, and the state police inspection took place on Thursday, December 20, 1906. Regular operations began on December 21, 1906. In March 1907 it the first modification, because the routes to Dodge complemented had.

Vehicle fleet

For the initial equipment , 16 railcars were procured from the vehicle workshops Falkenried and AEG . They were 7.30 m long, had a center distance of 1.70 m and a width of 1.90 m. Both platforms were open on delivery. The railcars were originally equipped with a Lyra pantograph . The power of the two engines was given as 24 HP each at 550 V =, according to today's values ​​corresponding to a power of 2 × 17 kW. 16 seats on longitudinal benches and 14 standing places were provided. There were four windows on each side, the two in the middle wider, the two outer ones for lowering. The funnel coupling was used for coupling . Since 13 railcars were required for normal operation, the operating reserve appeared to be insufficient and three identical railcars were procured in November 1907. The company numbers were 1–19. From 1914 the front sides of the railcars were glazed, from around 1930 there were pantographs and from 1936 the vehicles were further modernized.

In 1917 the sidecars 51–56 were procured used and in 1937 they were retired. The vehicles had five rounded windows on each side and open, conspicuously angular platforms. The sidecars 50–53 were bought second-hand by the Mulhouse tram in 1941 and retired by 1952. At 2.12 m, these vehicles were wider than the railcars and had 18 transverse seats in a 2 + 1 arrangement.

During the Second World War , 4 railcars were temporarily lent to the Mannheim / Ludwigshafen tram and four sidecars from the Darmstadt tram (built in 1897) were in use.

All vehicles were housed in a four-track wagon hall from the year it was commissioned on Bebelstrasse.

As of January 1, 1955, the city's own operation, known as "Stadtwerke Worms - Tram", had 18 railcars with 10.7 km of route length and 10.2 km of line length (unchanged single-track with diversion). For the bus operation that had existed since July 11, 1949, 9 "motor vehicles" were available.

business

Bracket for the overhead line of the tram at Wilhelm-Leuschner-Straße 24

A peculiarity at that time was that the operation without a conductor was planned from the beginning and therefore on the platform of the newly acquired railcars next to the door to the interior of the car there was a payment box with a sign “Insert fare here” or “Always 10 Pfg when boarding. throw in yourself ”was appropriate. Control was no longer guaranteed due to increasing numbers of passengers and conductors were hired from 1916.

In the planning phase, the lines were still designated as I and II. In the company regulations of 1906 there was the additional designation "green line" and "red line". This was evident to the passenger from the colors of the signs and colored lanterns.

Several counts showed that the Worms tram was used on average 3700 times a day, which corresponds to a total of 1.3 million journeys per year. The staff consisted of 22 drivers, four craftsmen, two track attendants, six "other" workers, one clerk in the office, a foreman, a controller and an auxiliary controller.

Despite a relatively moderate top speed of 30 km / h, there were several traffic accidents, including with shy horses or with young people who carelessly tried to jump onto the already moving track.

At times there were three, and finally two lines that were not numbered:

The lines were consistently single-track. There were plans to expand the route network towards Horchheim, for example . However, the Second World War destroyed this. Instead, the establishment of omnibus lines was pushed , the tram was finally shut down on January 29, 1956 and the fleet of cars scrapped.

Worth knowing

As one of the last tangible evidence of tram operation in Worms, a bracket for the tram's overhead line has been preserved on the facade of the building at Wilhelm-Leuschner-Straße 24 .

literature

in alphabetical order by authors / editors

  • Ralph Häussler: The Worms tram . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2012. ISBN 978-3-95400-119-4
  • D. Höltge: German trams and light rail vehicles 4: Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland . Verlag Zeunert, Gifhorn 1981. ISBN 3-921237-60-2 , pp. 217-225.
  • Hubertus Elster: 75 years of the Worms transport company . Worms 1981.
  • Jörg Koch: Worms a hundred years ago . Sutton, Erfurt 2012. ISBN 978-3-95400-020-3
  • M. Kochems and D. Höltge: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany 12: Rhineland-Palatinate / Saarland . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2011. ISBN 978-3-88255-393-2 , pp. 270-283.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Häussler, pp. 7-14.
  2. ↑ Höltge, pp. 217–225.
  3. ↑ Kochems, pp. 270-283.
  4. ↑ Association of Public Transport Companies (ed.): Handbook of Public Transport Companies , edition 1955/56, pp. 134–135 Erich Schmidt Verlag (1955)
  5. ↑ a b c Koch, p. 15.
  6. ↑ Häussler, p. 93.
  7. ↑ Johannes Götzen: A look back with sadness . In: Wormser Zeitung of February 26, 2020, p. 10.