The ("Ordinance on the Construction and Operation of Street Railways" / light railway regulations), abbreviated as BOStrab, is a German law regulation governing the field of

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

way,

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

and

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

operations. The orders are enacted by the Federal Ministry of Transport based on enabling act through the General Railway Law ("", first issued on 29. March 1951). The supervisory authority is delegated to the

Federal Railway Authority The German Federal Railway Authority (, ) has been the independent federal authority for the regulation of the railways in Germany since 1 January 1994. It is under the supervision and direction of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transpo ...

of Germany. Systemwechsel Stadtbahn Karlsruhe

The BOStrab regulations are not as strict as the EBO main railway regulations; for example the BOStrab does not specify a strict loading gauge to follow. A third law ESBO () covers narrow-gauge railway regulations. The distinctions for these light rail systems are slightly different from in the UK Tramways Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 78) /

Light Railways Act 1896 The Light Railways Act 1896 ( 59 & 60 Vict. c. 48) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. History Before the act each new railway line built in the country required a specific act of Parliament to ...

. Some

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 ...

systems are subject to both BOStrab and EBO regulations as their vehicles use both types of networks. This is common with

tram-train A tram-train or dual-system tram is a type of light rail vehicle that both meets the standards of a light rail system, and also national mainline standards. Tramcars are adapted to be capable of running on streets like an urban tramway but a ...

systems - apart from a technical switch on the boundary (e.g.

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the ...

need to change from 750 V to 15 kV) a different set of safety regulations needs to be followed (e.g. tramways are run on sight while main railways use block control).

Trackbed

The § 16 BOStrab defines the legal types of trackbed: : Street running trackbed (""): :: These tramways are running directly along public streets, without any separation which makes them subject to rules of the road as automobiles. As such the streetcars need to be equipped with mirrors and blinkers. : Exclusive Trackbed (""): :: The tramway is part of the urban traffic structure but its railroads are separated from other traffic by an embankment, trees or curbs giving them an exclusive right of way. There may be

railroad crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The ...

s marked with signs or traffic lights that regulate the access. : Independent Trackbed (""): :: The railway is independent of the urban traffic structure which in most cases has the railroad trackbed grade-separated in the city. The law allows level crossing as they are common outside of the city centre. If the tramway is street running or the crossings of the exclusive trackbed do not fit in the scope of § 20 BOStrab then tramways are limited to a maximum length of and a maximum width of . Current eligibility criteria define that federal funding for railroads is only permitted for sections that have a trackbed that is at least exclusive.

References

Law of Germany {{Germany-rail-transport-stub

Trackbed

See also

References