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The CarGoTram was a
The idea of building a "transparent factory" for Volkswagen automobile production in Dresden arose in 1997. On 3 March 2000, Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG (DVB AG, ''Dresden Public Transport Co.'') and Volkswagen Automobil-Manufaktur Dresden GmbH signed a contract for the CarGoTram. Car parts were to be transported by tram from the logistics center in Dresden Friedrichstadt to the new factory, using infrastructure normally used for passenger trams. The long route from the logistics center to the factory ran straight through the inner city of Dresden; the use of trucks would have caused an increase of traffic in the city.
Two CarGoTrams were built by Schalker Eisenhütte Maschinenfabrik GmbH
freight
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...
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 ...
in Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. It supplied Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...
's "Transparent Factory
The Transparent Factory is a car factory and exhibition space in Dresden, Germany owned by German carmaker Volkswagen and designed by architect Gunter Henn. It originally opened in 2002, producing the Volkswagen Phaeton until 2016. As of 2017 ...
" with parts for car assembly.
History
The idea of building a "transparent factory" for Volkswagen automobile production in Dresden arose in 1997. On 3 March 2000, Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG (DVB AG, ''Dresden Public Transport Co.'') and Volkswagen Automobil-Manufaktur Dresden GmbH signed a contract for the CarGoTram. Car parts were to be transported by tram from the logistics center in Dresden Friedrichstadt to the new factory, using infrastructure normally used for passenger trams. The long route from the logistics center to the factory ran straight through the inner city of Dresden; the use of trucks would have caused an increase of traffic in the city.
Two CarGoTrams were built by Schalker Eisenhütte Maschinenfabrik GmbH Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...
, at a cost of 6.5 million
One million (1,000,000), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the a ...
Deutsche Mark
The Deutsche Mark (; English: ''German mark''), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was ...
each.
The freight tram was officially introduced in Dresden on 16 November 2000 and had its first test run on 3 January 2001.
Production of the ''VW Phaeton
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post- ...
'' in Dresden ended in March 2016. The service restarted for production of the VW e-Golf
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post- ...
in March 2017.
After the first rumors appeared in mid 2020 that the CarGoTram will be soon out of service, Volkswagen finally announced on 19 October 2020 that it will stay in service until late December 2020. The reason for this would be the end of the production of the VW e-Golf and the new logistics concept for the start of the VW ID.3 production. The last service was planned for the 23 December 2020.
On 10 December 2020, around two weeks before the last planned day in service, a van crashed in one of the CarGoTrams. The tram was turning right to the entry of the Gläserne Manufaktur ("Transparent Factory") as the car probably passed a red traffic light and collided with the tram. Both vehicles were damaged. As the other CarGoTram was also not in service at that time, this accident eventually was the end of service for the CarGoTram. If it will be in service again transporting other goods for another company someday is currently unclear.
Route
CarGoTram ran every hour. If necessary, it could run every 40 minutes. Several different routes were used. The main route went from the logistics center in Friedrichstadt via Postplatz and Grunaer Straße to Straßburger Platz and finally on to the factory. If there was heavy traffic, the tram could also take route via the main station or other routes.Technology
The CarGoTram is a bidirectional vehicle consisting of 5 segments. The standard formation was three freight units and two combination freight/control units. The control cars have less capacity () than the middle cars (), because of space devoted to the driver’s cab. Total capacity is the equivalent of three trucks (). The running gear for the tram was recycled from out-of-service Tatra trams, mostlyTatra T4
T4 is the name of a tram produced by ČKD Tatra. It is the narrower variant of the Tatra T3 model. A large number of cars was supplied to the GDR, the USSR, Romania and the former Yugoslavia using names T4D, T4SU, T4R and T4YU, respectively. ...
. The bodies were newly built.
All axles of the control car as well as the middle cars were driven.
See also
* Cargo trams, use of trams for freight *Trams in Dresden
The Dresden tramway network (german: Straßenbahnnetz Dresden) is a network of tramways forming the backbone of the public transport system in Dresden, a city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. Opened in 1872, it has been operated since 1 ...
References
External links
*{{citation, url =http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/de/trams/Dresden/CarGoTram/pix.html, title = CarGoTram photos, work = www.railfaneurope.net Tram vehicles of Germany Non-passenger multiple units Transport in Dresden Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe