The Potsdam tramway network (german: Straßenbahnnetz Potsdam) is a

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

tram 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 ...

ways forming part of the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

system in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

of the

federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

, Germany. The network is owned and operated by the public citizen company (ViP), and included in the "Berlin C" fare zone (''Tarifbereich Berlin C'') of the

Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg The Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) is a transport association run by public transport providers in the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. It is a private limited company owned jointly by the states of Berlin and Brandenburg (with ...

History

The network opened on 12 May 1880: It was a

horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...

system owned by the society Reymer & Masch, named ''Potsdamer Straßenbahn-Gesellschaft'' and consisted of a pair of lines. Günther Wolf-Dietger, Michael Wolf-Dietger, Machel Wolf-Dietger: "''Potsdamer Nahverkehr: Straßenbahn und Obus in Brandenburgs Landeshauptstadt''". Geramond-Verlag GmbH,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

1999 - 1907 saw the introduction of electric trams which ran on a new line of 8 km. In 1908 the network was composed by 4 lines (named from A to D) and in 1949 by 5 (named from 1 to 5). At the end of the 1950s, new streetcars models were introduced (typical during the

DDR DDR or ddr may refer to: *ddr, ISO 639-3 code for the Dhudhuroa language *DDr., title for a double doctorate in Germany *DDR, station code for Dadar railway station, Mumbai, India *' (German Democratic Republic), official name of the former East ...

era), the Gothawagen (

T57 T57 may refer to: * T57 (album), a 2007 album by American gospel group Trin-i-tee 5:7 * Garland/DFW Heloplex (FAA airport code T57), a heliport in Garland, Texas * T57 Motor Gun Carriage, a proposed WWII variant of the M3 Stuart light tank * T57 ...

, G4-61, G4-65 and T2-62), produced in the

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

n town of

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

by the

Gothaer Waggonfabrik ''Gothaer Waggonfabrik'' (''Gotha'', GWF) was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building. World War I In World War I, Got ...

. In the 1980s, a pair of new routes were built: in 1984 through the new residential center in

Babelsberg Babelsberg () is the largest quarter (''Stadtteil'') of Potsdam, the capital city of the German state of Brandenburg. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Palac ...

and in 1988 from ''Am Stern'' stop to the new south-eastern residential area in Drewitz. The

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

trams

Tatra KT4 Tatra KT4 is the name of a four-axle type articulated tramcar developed by the Czech firm ČKD Tatra. The first pre-production vehicles entered service in Potsdam in 1975, with the first production vehicles in 1977. A total of 1,747 units were bui ...

were introduced in 1993, and the modern

Combino The Siemens Combino is a low-floor tram produced by Siemens Mobility (formerly Duewag). The first prototype was produced in 1996 at the Duewag works in Düsseldorf; the trams are now made in Krefeld-Uerdingen. Due to its modular design using s ...

and

Variotram The Stadler Variobahn (formerly sold as the ABB Variotram, Adtranz Variotram and Bombardier Variotram) is a German-designed model of articulated low-floor tram and light rail vehicle. Since its introduction in 1993, the Variobahn has been manufa ...

in the 2000s.

Network

The Potsdam route network is a standard-gauge railway. It is 28.9 kilometers long and has 63 stops. The track length is 59.6 kilometers. It is driven by five main and two amplifier lines. It is almost continuously double tracked, only the

Nauener Tor Nauener Tor (Nauen Gate) is one of the three preserved gates of Potsdam, Germany. It was built in 1755 and is the first example of the influence of English Gothic Revival architecture in Continental Europe. History The first Nauener Tor was buil ...

is crossed by means of a

gauntlet track Gauntlet track or interlaced track (also gantlet track) is an arrangement in which railway tracks run parallel on a single track bed and are interlaced (i.e., overlapped) in such a way that only one pair of rails can be used at any time. Since th ...

. The network consists, as of June 2022, of 7 lines: The tram lines 91 to 96 operate on all days according to a uniform timetable scheme. This should give passengers better visibility. The basic scheme of the tram lines is a 20-minute- cyclic schedule. The timetable of the tram lines are coordinated at the linking points ''

Potsdam Hauptbahnhof Potsdam Hauptbahnhof is the main station in the German city of Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg. It lies on the Berlin–Magdeburg railway and was founded in 1838. However, it has had this name only since 1999. It was originally calle ...

'' and '' Babelsberg station'' with the

Berlin S-Bahn The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under this name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff area ''Berliner Stadt-, Ring ...

. Lines 98 and 99 are amplifier lines that don´t operate at certain times. They are only a part of the timetable scheme. On Line 92, extra rides are offered throughout the route in the

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...

. As a result, lines 92 (with 2 courses) and 96 (with one course) run at 6/7/7-minute intervals, which in turn means that line 91 and 92 as well as 96 and 93 do not drive at an interval of 10 minutes. The network is navigated with

uni-directional vehicle A uni-directional vehicle is a vehicle that is normally designed to operate only in the forward direction. While the vast majority of road vehicles are like this, the term generally refers to a train or tram with a distinguishable front and rear ...

s. There are

turning loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

s at all terminal stops. Exceptions are '' Glienicker Brücke'', which is crossed by a

triangular junction In railroad structures, and rail terminology, a wye (like the'' 'Y' ''glyph) or triangular junction (often shortened to just "triangle") is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch (set of points) at each co ...

, as well as ''

Schloss Charlottenhof Charlottenhof Palace or Charlottenhof Manor (german: Schloss Charlottenhof) is a former royal palace located southwest of Sanssouci Palace in Sanssouci Park at Potsdam, Germany. It is best known as the summer residence of Crown Prince Frederick ...

'' and ''

'', where the tramcars can be turned around by a block bypass.

Photogallery

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0407-0029-001, Potsdam, Neubauten am Platz der Einheit (cropped).jpg, A " Gothawagen" at Platz der Einheit in 1965 File:Lindner-TW-Potsdam.jpg, Historical 1907 ''Triebwagen Nr. 9'' in 2006 File:Potsdam KT4Dm am Schragen 22-05-2005.JPG, A

" at Schragen File:Potsdam Combino 411 als SL 94 am Rathaus Babelsberg.JPG, A "

" at Rathaus

File:Potsdam Variobahn am Platz der Einheit.JPG, A "

" used in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

Note the DVG

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

on the vehicle at Platz der Einheit File:ViP-Variobahn 2011.jpg, The final Potsdam version of the new "

" File:Potsdam Schienepflegefahrzeug 303 12-12-2007.jpg, A rail maintenance vehicle at Platz der Einheit

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

Stadtwerke (and Verkehrsbetrieb) Potsdam

Tram Travels: Verkehrsbetrieb Potsdam (ViP)Article about Potsdam Tramway at railway-technology.com
* * {{Urban public transport in Germany Transport in Potsdam

600 V DC railway electrification