Strasbourg Tram

The history of the Strasbourg trams begins on April 5, 1877, when the Strasbourg Horse-Railway Company (Straßburger Pferde-Eisenbahngesellschaft) was established . On April 25, 1888, it was renamed the Strasbourg Tram Company (Straßburger Straßenbahngesellschaft) .

Since 1848, horses have been used on public transport in Strasbourg. The first two standard rail tracks were opened by the horse-riding company for a short time. The first route after 1878 on the bridge over the Rhine led to Kehl. The second route connected Strasbourg with Enheim . The tram network was a cross between a horse and a train. Horses were used in the city center, and small steam locomotives were used on the outskirts. By 1885, even more tram lines were built connecting Koenigshofen, Robertsau, Neuhof and Wolfisheim . At the same time, several routes arose in the center of Strasbourg, where in 1883 a central station was opened. By 1886, the construction of the line connecting the tram network with Graffenstaden was completed . This route was the final in the first stage of expansion. The gauge at that time was 1000 millimeters . The history of the electrification of Konka and its transformation into a tram began with the conclusion of a contract on December 14, 1894 with the electricity company AEG . As of May 14, 1897, AEG was the main shareholder of the Strasbourg trams, but in 1912 the city of Strasbourg acquired 51% of the registered capital in order to protect the interests of the population. As the main shareholder, AEG fully electrified the entire city transport network, which gradually expanded until 1913, until its development was interrupted by World War II . After the war, Strasbourg, along with Alsace, moved to France. The Strasbourg tram company (Straßburger Straßenbahngesellschaft) in 1919 became known as the Transport Company of Strasbourg (Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois or CTS). In 1918, the number of passengers was 46,144,000 per year. Towards the end of the 30s of the 20th century, a tendency towards a decrease in passenger traffic arose: if 54,600,000 people were transported in 1930, then in 1938 this figure dropped to 33,000,000 passengers . The reasons for this were the gradually developing automobile traffic and the creation of a bus network. On May 27, 1939, a trolleybus line was also opened, which became part of the city transport network.

After World War II , the transport company of Strasbourg lacked the necessary funds to modernize the tram fleet. It was decided to completely stop the tram service. By 1956, the ground tram network was transformed into a bus network. Since 1957, there were two subway lines with modernized vehicles. The last day of the work of these two lines was April 30, 1960. Trams were abolished. From March 31, 1962, the diesel bus was the only local public transport. The speed in the city was from 10 to 15 km / h.

• Erhard Born: Schmalspur zwischen Vogesen und Schwarzwald . K. Seidel Selbstverlag, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1972, ISBN 3-9800014-0-7 (German)
• Gilbert Haslauer, Albert Herrenschneider: Straßburg, die Geschichte einer Straßenbahn . In: Straßenbahn Magazin , Heft 17, August 1975. (German)
• Georges Muller: L'Année du Tram . Les Editions Ronald Hirlé, Strasbourg 1994, ISBN 2-910048-15-2 (fr.)
• Christoph Groneck: Neue Straßenbahnen in Frankreich. Die Wiederkehr eines urbanen Verkehrsmittels . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2003, ISBN 3-88255-844-X (German)
• Christoph Groneck: Französische Planungsleitbilder für Straßenbahnsysteme im Vergleich zu Deutschland . Dissertation, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Wuppertal 2007 ( Digitalisat , PDF, 5.1 MB) (German)