The Gothenburg tramway network ( sv, Göteborgs spårvägar) is part of the public transport system organised by Göteborgs Spårvägar, controlled by

Västtrafik Västtrafik is the agency responsible for public transport services involving buses, ferries, trains, and the Gothenburg tram network in the county of Västra Götaland, Sweden (plus Kungsbacka Municipality). It was established with the Västra G� ...

in the Swedish city of

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

. The system's approximately of single track — making it the largest tram network in Northern Europe — is used by around 200 trams , which serve twelve day-time and five night-time lines with a combined

line length In typography, line length is the width of a block of typeset text, usually measured in units of length like inches or points or in characters per line (in which case it is a measure). A block of text or paragraph has a maximum line length that ...

of 190 km. These figures are expected to increase when the second stage of ''Kringen'' (short for ''Kollektivringen'', the public transport ring) is finished. The trams perform about 2,000 trips and cover 30,000 km per day. In 2018, 131 million journeys were made (with changes counting as a new journey).

History

The first tram line in Gothenburg was started in 1879 by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

company Gothenburg Tramway Ltd. This was a horse-drawn tramway, which stretched from Brunnsparken to Stigbergsliden. The city of Gothenburg bought the tramway in 1900, and introduced electrically powered trams only two years later when

Sigfrid Edström Johannes Sigfrid Edström (11 November 1870 – 18 March 1964) was a Swedish industrialist, chairman of the Sweden-America Foundation, and 4th President of the International Olympic Committee. Early life Edström was born in the tiny vill ...

led the electrification of the trams. During the next 40 years, the tram system was heavily expanded, reaching outside the city borders by 1907, and

Hisingen Hisingen () is the fifth-largest island of Sweden (after Gotland, Öland, Södertörn and Orust), with an area of . It is a river island, formed by the split of the Göta Älv at Bohus, and is defined to the east and south by the main arm of tha ...

in 1940. In the 1960s, plans for converting the tram system to an

underground rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

system were created, and the new tram sections to the

Tynnered Tynnered is one of 21 boroughs in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. It is located in the western part of the city, about 8-10 kilometres from the inner city, and it has a population of 27,787 (2010) on 29.85 square kilometres (11.53 mi2). Ali ...

Angered Angered ( ) is a borough of Gothenburg Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. Angered is the biggest Million Programme area in Gothenburg, and one of the biggest in the country, with 60,000 inhabitants. Transportation Angered is s ...

Bergsjön Bergsjön is a district in eastern Gothenburg, Sweden. On January 1, 2011, Bergsjön and Kortedala became the Eastern District of Gothenburg as part of a larger reorganization of the city of Gothenburg; the number of district councils was halved ...

and Länsmansgården suburbs were built free from level crossings and partly in tunnels to make a future conversion to underground standards easier. However, after further investigation, it was concluded that it would be too expensive to dig the necessary tunnels under the city centre, as the foundation of the city is partially made up of clay. Tram in Gothenburgh 1963

When Sweden's switch to right-hand traffic in 1967 made existing unidirectional trams obsolete, Gothenburg was one of only two cities in Sweden to maintain its city-centre tramway, the other such network to survive being the Norrköping tramway. The expansion of the net through the ''Kringen'' is gradually and step by step creating a tramway ring around the city centre. In 1999 the first step was started, which most notably included the 1050 m long Chalmers tunnel which was opened for traffic in 2002, connecting the Chalmers station with the

Korsvägen Korsvägen (literary ”the cross road”) is a public square and transport hub in the events district of Gothenburg, Sweden. Many important event venues and visitor attractions are located on or near Korsvägen, including the Swedish Exhibition an ...

hub. The second and third steps are currently in the planning stage. Since 2010, the previously used

magnetic stripe card The term digital card can refer to a physical item, such as a memory card on a camera, or, increasingly since 2017, to the digital content hosted as a virtual card or cloud card, as a digital virtual representation of a physical card. They share ...

s have been replaced with

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

cards.

Ticket machine A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...

s taking coins and credit cards have also been installed on the trams, along with a text message system where tickets may be purchased with mobile phones. From about 2019, a phone app has become the leading mode of ticket purchase.

Lines

Most tram lines pass through Brunnsparken, which is effectively the central hub of public transport in Gothenburg. The exceptions are lines 8 and 14. The

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

is also a major stop, especially because it is the nearest stop not only for train passengers but also passengers coming from the neighbouring

Nils Ericson Terminal The Nils Ericson Terminal is a major bus terminus in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is placed in the city center just next to Gothenburg Central Station (Centralstationen), and across the street from the main Nordstan shopping center. The main stree ...

, where

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, airport buses to

Landvetter Airport Landvetter is a locality situated in Härryda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 7,152 inhabitants in 2010. It is the second largest town in the municipality and has given its name to the international airport Göteborg Landve ...

and City Airport (not being used for public passenger travel, but remains open for flying schools) and regional buses stop.

is another major stop, where lines 6 and 8 meet lines going into the city centre and out to

Mölndal Mölndal () is the seat and administrative centre of Mölndal Municipality, located just south of Gothenburg on the west-coast of Sweden. About 40,000 of the municipality's 60,000 inhabitants live in Mölndal proper. Geography Mölndal is located ...

. Most tram lines are on the south side of the river, but lines 5, 6, 10 and 14 cross the Hising bridge to the north side. M33 490

Rolling stock

The types of tramcars currently running in Gothenburg are: * M28, ASJL 1965–1967, 701–711, 713–763, 766, 767 (M28 was permanently decommissioned for safety reasons on October 28, 2021) * M29, Hägglund 1969–1972, 801–838, 840–857, 859, 860 * M31 (previously M21 ASEA 1984–1992, rebuilt with low-floor middle articulation), ASEA/MGB 1998–2003, 300–305, 307-380 * M32

Sirio The Hitachi Sirio (Italian for Sirius, formerly sold as the AnsaldoBreda Sirio) is a low-floor tram built by Hitachi Rail Italy (formerly AnsaldoBreda), a Japanese-Italian manufacturer of trains, trams and light-rail vehicles. It can be ordered ...

, AnsaldoBreda 2005–2013, (as of January 2016) 401–465 * M33 Flexity Classic, Bombardier 2019–, In 2013 work with deciding new tram stocks began. By April 2016, it was announced that a minimum 40 trams of the new model M33 had been ordered from Bombardier Transportation Sweden AB/Vossloh Kiepe GmbH for delivery by year 2019. There is a fleet of heritage trams used in the network. One of the oldest trams,

M1 15 The M1 15 is the oldest preserved electrical tram in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built in 1902 by ASEA and is one of the first electrical trams in Gothenburg. The tram has been restored to the same appearance it had between 1902 and 1906. The tram ...

, which was built in 1902, is preserved in operational condition.

Notes

References

External links

Göteborgs Spårvägar - Transport company

Official line map (Västtrafik)

Track plan of the Gothenburg tram system

Urban Transport Technology - Gothenburg

Tram Travels: Göteborgs Spårvägar (GS)
{{Urban public transport in Sweden

Tram network A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

Tram transport in Sweden Light rail in Sweden 1879 establishments in Sweden 1879 in rail transport Articles containing video clips Town tramway systems by city