''Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft'' ('Alb Valley Transport Company', AVG) is a company owned by the city of

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

that operates rail and bus services in the

area, southwest Germany. It is a member of the '' Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund'' (KVV) transport association that manages a common public transport structure for Karlsruhe and its surrounding areas and a partner, with the ''

Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe The Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Transport Company, VBK) is the municipal transport company of the city of Karlsruhe in Germany. It runs the tram and bus network within the city, as well as the Turmbergbahn funicular railway. The VBK is ...

'' (VBK) and ''

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

'' (DB), in the operation of the ''

Karlsruhe Stadtbahn The Karlsruhe Stadtbahn is a German tram-train system combining tram lines in the city of Karlsruhe with railway lines in the surrounding countryside, serving the entire region of the middle upper Rhine valley and creating connections to neighbou ...

'', the pioneering

tram-train A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This all ...

system that serves a larger area. It also operates some of the region’s bus services and carries freight by road and rail, and operates a travel agency. It owns and maintains several railway lines, including the '' Albtalbahn'' railway, and leases and maintains other lines. VBK, a sister company, operates Karlsruhe's bus and tram network, and AVG Stadtbahn routes use VBK tracks to access the city centre. Besides AVG and VBK lines, AVG also operates on DB tracks and a short stretch of tram track belonging to the city of

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

. VBK and DB Stadtbahn routes traverse AVG tracks. AVG dates back to the acquisition in 1958 of the ''Albtalbahn'' railway by the city of Karlsruhe. This electric railway was converted to and connected to the city's tram network. Because it remained legally a railway and needed to conform to mainline railway design and safety standards, AVG accumulated experience in operating across the divide between tramway and railway. It was this experience that led to the development of the Stadtbahn Karlsruhe and to the AVG operating over a much wider area.

References

External links

Home page of AVG
* Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft in Stadtwiki Karlsruhe
''privat-bahn.de'': Fahrzeuge der AVG

{{Authority control Karlsruhe Stadtbahn Tram transport in Germany Rail transport in Karlsruhe Companies based in Baden-Württemberg Companies based in Karlsruhe