Trams in Dresden
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The Dresden tramway network (german: Straßenbahnnetz Dresden) is a network of tramways forming the backbone 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
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 larg ...
, a city in 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 ...
of
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, Germany. Opened in 1872, it has been operated since 1993 by
Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG (DVB) is the municipal transport company of the city of Dresden in Germany. It is a member of the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe transport association that manages a common public transport structure for Dresden and its su ...
(DVB), and is integrated in the
Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe The Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (Upper Elbe Transport Association or VVO) is a transport association run by public transport providers in the Saxon Elbeland area of the German state of Saxony. The VVO area comprises the city of Dresden, togethe ...
(VVO). , the network comprised 12
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 ...
lines, with a total
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 approximately and a total route length of . There was of track, which translated into of actual tram line, serving 154
tram stop A tram stop, tram station, streetcar stop, or light rail station is a place designated for a tram, streetcar, or light rail vehicle to stop so passengers can board or alight it. Generally, tram stops share most characteristics of bus stops, bu ...
s.


History

The origins of the Dresden tramway network can be traced back to the year 1872, when the first horse-drawn line opened between the city centre and the former village of Blasewitz, now a borough of Dresden.


Lines

The Dresden tramway network is a mixed system of traditional street running, especially in the inner city boroughs close to the city centre, and modern light rail. The network uses the unique gauge of , which is just wider than . This is sometimes called the ''Dresden Gauge'' In recent years, street running has been replaced by independent
right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
arrangements wherever possible, and new extensions created in the same form. In November 2008, a extension of line 7 was opened from Gorbitz to Pennrich, in Dresden's south eastern suburbs. In May 2011, a extension of line 10 opened from Friedrichstrasse to the city's ''Messe'' or exhibition centre, involving construction of a long, wide and high bridge across the
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
of the
River Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
. In July 2019, routes 9 and 13 were realigned along a section to provide better connections with regional trains at Dresden-Strehlen station. Unlike many other German cities of comparable size, no
stadtbahn ' (; German for "city railway"; plural ') is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that co ...
style tunnel sections or high platform stops have been created. Many tram stops have been rebuilt so as to be fully accessible to physically disabled persons, and to allow level boarding to the low floor trams that now operate most services. Different lines can be identified by a line number and a colour code. the lines are: Future plans, as part of the ''Stadtbahnprogramm 2020'', include of new tram line, with work starting in 2014. Some would be on reserved track, and the new lines would replace bus lines 61 and 62, some of the city's busiest, with an estimated cost of 223 million euros. The new lines comprise: * Prager Str to Plauen Bhf via Budapester Str and Chemnitzer Str * Großer Garten to Löbtau via Technische Universität * City Center to Fetscherplatz via Pillnitzer Str and Striesener Str * Sachsenallee to Max-Planck-Institute via Johannstadt * Bühlau to Weißig On all tram lines except lines 4 and 11, a general 10-minute
headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...
is offered on weekdays, extending to 15 minutes on Saturday, Sunday and in the evening. On the main routes through the inner city, where different lines intertwine, vehicles run up to every two minutes. Line 4, which extends a considerable distance beyond the city boundary to the towns of
Radebeul Radebeul ( hsb, Radobyle) is a town (''große Kreisstadt'') in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well known for its viticulture, a museum dedicated to writer Karl May, and a narrow gaug ...
, Coswig and
Weinböhla Weinböhla is a municipality in the district of Meißen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 7 km east of Meißen, and 17 km northwest of Dresden. The municipality can be reached from Dresden by Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe Dresdner Ver ...
, operates the standard 10 or 15 minute interval service as far as Radebeul West, and a 30-minute service beyond that to Coswig and Weinböhla. Line 11 is running every 7 to 8 minutes during peak hours.


Rolling stock

, Dresden's tram fleet was made up of 166 modern tramsets (with 31 older trams). Most of the trams operating in Dresden are articulated low floor cars, of two different basic designs, each of which has several variants. The first generation of low floor cars was built by
Deutsche Waggonbau Deutsch or Deutsche may refer to: *''Deutsch'' or ''(das) Deutsche'': the German language, in Germany and other places *''Deutsche'': Germans, as a weak masculine, feminine or plural demonym *Deutsch (word), originally referring to the Germanic ve ...
in
Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...
between 1995 and 2002; both 6 and 8 axle variants exist. The second generation of low floor cars have been built since 2003 are
Bombardier Flexity Classic The Bombardier Flexity Classic is a model of light-rail tram manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. Although it is marketed as the most traditionally designed member of the Flexity family, it is still a modern bi-directional articulated t ...
s, both 8 and 12 axle variants exist. The articulated cars vary in length from long; all run as single car sets. The fleet used to be composed of
ČKD Tatra ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide. History ČKD was formed in ...
trams that provided service towards the end of the GDR era. At present some
Tatra 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 ...
cars built between 1968 and 1984 are still in service, but it is intended that they will all be replaced by 2010. The Tatra cars are all high floor, precluding level boarding from tram stops, and run in two car sets with a set length of some . The DVB tram fleet operates out of three depots; at Gorbitz on routes 2,6 and 7 in south west Dresden, at Trachenberge on route 3 in the north-west, and Reick on routes 1, 9 and 13 in the south-east. Gorbitz is new facility opened in 1996 and includes a new central workshops. Trachenberge and Reick are older facilities that have both been heavily rebuilt to similar standards, whilst several other older depots have been closed. The former central workshops at Trachenberge, adjacent to the current depot, now house the Dresden Tram Museum, which has a collection including examples of many former Dresden trams.


CarGoTram

The
CarGoTram The CarGoTram was a freight tram in Dresden, Germany. It supplied Volkswagen's "Transparent Factory" with parts for car assembly. History The idea of building a "transparent factory" for Volkswagen automobile production in Dresden arose in 19 ...
is a freight carrying tram that supplies Volkswagen'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 ...
, crossing the city. The two trams, up to long, are the longest vehicles allowed to use roads in Dresden. The connection by tram was established to reduce the number of trucks used. The factory is located to the east of the city centre, next to the
Großer Garten The Großer Garten (English: Great Garden) is a Baroque style park in central Dresden. It is rectangular in shape and covers about 1.8 km². Originally established in 1676 on the orders of John George III, Elector of Saxony, it has been a p ...
, whilst the distribution depot that loads the parts is to the west of the city centre.


See also

*
List of town tramway systems in Germany This is a list of town tramway systems in Germany by ''Land''. It includes all tram systems, past and present. Cities with currently operating systems, and those systems themselves, are indicated in bold and blue background colored rows. Those t ...
*
Trams in Germany Germany has an extensive number of tramway networks (Straßenbahn in German). Some of these networks have been upgraded to light rail standards, called Stadtbahn in German. Straßenbahn and Stadtbahn schemes are usually operated on the legal foun ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links


Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe
– official site * * {{coord, 51, 03, 03, N, 13, 44, 00, E, region:DE-SN_type:railwaystation_source:googlemaps, display=title
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 larg ...
Transport in Dresden 600 V DC railway electrification
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 larg ...