Trams in Frankfurt am Main

The network is the oldest light rail system in the city, the first horse tram lines having started operations on 19 May 1872. It includes one of the first electric tramways in the world, with the first electrified tram line starting in 1884. Although the various lines were founded by a number of private and public operators, all trams are now operated by Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt (VGF, English: Frankfurt Transport Company), and the system is part of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV, English: Rhine-Main transport network). In December 2014, the opening of the new line through the Stresemannallee closed a gap in the southern Mainz network. The approximately one kilometer long route created a direct connection between the stops Stresemannallee / Garden Street and Stresemannallee / Mörfelder highway under construction of a new stop at the S-Bahn station Stresemannallee. On the new line was the line 17, which previously ended at the main station, extended to the city limits of Neu-Isenburg, resulting in a commuter attractive direct connection from the neighboring city to Frankfurt Central Station. ==Future==

The future for the trams in Frankfurt are under discussion. These include: • An extension of line 11 from "Zuckschwerdtstraße" to Höchst station • A new line from central station through "Gutleutstraße" to "Briefzentrum" replacing bus route 37 • A relocation of the former "Waldbahn" line (today's line 12) in Goldstein from the southern outskirts into "Straßburger Straße" • An extension of line 12 to the Höchst Industrial Park • A relocation of the old town route from the eastern part of "Battonnstraße" into "Allerheiligenstraße" • A modernization of line 16 throughout Bockenheim and Ginnheim • A third route crossing the river Main via "Alte Brücke" from Konstablerwache to Sachsenhausen In 2005, the city's council was asked to examine whether a tram route to Uni Campus Westend could be built on Mainzer Landstrasse, Taunusanlage, Reuterweg and Bremer Platz, but this was denied in October 2006, because bus route 36 already serves this area in a sufficient way. Furthermore, on "Reuterweg" and "Mainzer Landstraße" two lanes in each direction are needed to cover the high amount of individual traffic and could not be dedicated as a tram line. The establishment of a tram line to Bad Vilbel is no longer considered by the city council because the tram cars can not operate on gradients greater than 10%, which "Frankfurter Straße" – part of the planned route – includes. In addition, research revealed that a tram on this line would not be significantly quicker than the current bus service. ==Historical routes==

Frankfurt Lokalbahn The route of the Frankfurt local railway in the Eschersheimer highway opened in 1888 and extended to 1910 to Bad Homburg and Oberursel. The route branches north of Heddernheim were always a special feature of the tram network because they had a wider track profile due to the freight traffic there. In order to avoid derailment, only tramcars with widened tires could be used there, which was characterized by a "v" (for "suburban") in the series designation. In 1968, the line went mostly into the network of the subway and has since been used by the U-Bahn lines U1 to Ginnheim, U2 to Bad Homburg-Gonzenheim and U3 to Oberursel Hohemark. The extension of the light rail network in 1971 to Bad Homburg meant that the Homburger route "provisionally" had to be withdrawn in the district Gonzenheim, because the previous tram in Bad Homburg narrow city streets drove that were not passable for subway cars. Until 1978, the tunnel of the Eschersheimer Landstrasse still operated tunnel-engined trams of the series Mt, since then it is used exclusively for subway operation of the lines U1 to U3. Rödelheim In 1889, a horse-drawn railway line was set up from Bockenheimer Schönhof via the Rödelheimer Landstraße to the Niddabruecke in Rödelheim. In 1904, this route was electrified as the last in Frankfurt. 1911 was followed by an extension of the Nidda to Rödelheimer station. Until 1915, it was separated from the rest of the tram network by the Main-Weser-Bahn, because for safety reasons only unoccupied tram cars were allowed to cross the railroad tracks at ground level. It was not until the construction of the Breitenbach Bridge at the Industriehof that it could be connected to the line to the Opernplatz. In 1978, it was shut down on the occasion of the opening of the S-Bahn and replaced by the bus 34. Berkersheim, Eckenheim, Preungesheim The route to Berkersheim went through the fierce disputes over their decommissioning in the city's history. The first section was opened in 1911 and branched north of the main cemetery from the existing since 1907 route over the Eckenheimer highway. From there it led over then still undeveloped terrain to Marbachweg and shortly afterwards turned into today's Gießener Straße. The route changed there to the Homburger highway and drove them north to the level of Weilbrunnstraße in Preungesheim. 1919 followed by a single-track extension over undeveloped land to the Oberwiesenweg in the northeast of Preungesheim, only in 1925 Berkersheim received a tram connection. A continuation to Bad Vilbel was not realized because of the shortage of materials in the years before the Second World War. Although incorporation into the Eckenheimer Stadtbahn line opened in 1974 had been considered, the idea was eventually dropped because of operational risks and the limited capacity of the mostly single-track route. The decommissioning of the line between Giessener Straße and Berkersheim took place on 25 February 1978. In Preungesheim the tram was replaced by the city railway line B1 (today's line U5), in Berkersheim they set up as a substitute bus line 39. The official reason for the decommissioning was the construction of the Federal Highway 661, for which a costly underpass should have been built. In fact, the decommissioning, however, was done by pressure of the Frankfurt Transport Association, in the popularly (based on the usual since 1951 line number) Wilde 13 line saw an inadmissible "parallel traffic" to the opened in the same year rapid-transit railway. The decommissioning led for the first time to significant protests by the affected population, years later, the citizens' initiative called "Save the 13" called for the resumption of operations. Only the complete disassembly of the remaining tracks in the early 1980s ended the discussion about the future of the track. In the form of the new line 18 line in the newly developed Preungesheim housing estate Frankfurter Bogen the tram returned on December 11, 2011, in the area; a continuation to Berkersheim is not provided. Bergen The extension to the then still independent, northeast of Frankfurt lying mountains was taken on 15 October 1913 in operation. Previously, the lines ended at the Lahmeyerstraße in Riederwald. Before decommissioning, the line had been operated until the 1980s by the line 20 from Bornheim. After the line 12 had lost its diameter function in 1986 due to the opening of the C-Line of the subway and the associated decommissioning of the line through the Stephan- and Stiftstraße, she drove instead of ending in Bornheim at the "Prüfling" until Bergen and replaced the line 20. In February 1992, the regular service was closed and the old track laid idle, as the extension of the C-Line to Enkheim required a re-routing of the tracks on the Borsigallee. At the height of the former branch, the Stadtbahn station "Gwinnerstraße" was built. However, the route remained largely as it wanted to use parts of it for the planned extension of the line U4 from Bornheim to Bergen. The tracks are located at the crossroads with the Gelastraße on the higher lane of private traffic to the north. From the former stop Leonhardsgasse, today's bus stop, the route runs through the Seckbacher Ried. A short time later, the former route crosses the Bitzweg and runs between it and the outskirts of Bergen to the intersection with Wilhelmshöher road, which, coming from Seckbach, crosses the route. From here, the tracks have been rebuilt or overgraded; the section is released today for pedestrians. Only the turning loop on the southwestern edge of Bergen is again preserved and serves today as stop of the bus line 43. Meanwhile, however, there is the intention to reactivate the still-preserved route, whether as a tram or Stadtbahn route is unclear. It would be possible to reactivate as a light rail line with a subsequent tunnel in the Berger old town. Since the superstructure has decayed during the years of decommissioning, a complete renewal of the route is required. ==Current network==

there were eleven tram lines, among them eight main lines, two rush hour reinforcement lines and one special line in Frankfurt: Low-floor trams are being used since April 2007 on all regular lines. The Alstom Citadis SX05 is the latest addition to the fleet. The Ebbelwei express is a special line running on a loop from "Zoo" to "Messe/Schleife" via Altstadt and Sachsenhausen. The Ebbelwei-Express is a sightseeing line which runs only on weekends. Historic "K-type" trams are in operation on this route. Lieschen was a special line which ran from "Riedhof" to "Oberforsthaus" occasionally, only during a public festival called "Wäldchestag". Wäldchestag is only once a year during Pentecost, so the Frankfurt transit company VGF dismissed this line and its tracks in 2013. The Stadtbahn line U5 is partly street running and uses the tracks of a former tram line. Originally the street running part on "Eckenheimer Landstraße" should be replaced by a subway, but due to a lack of funding as well as protests from the residents in this area who feared years of construction, those plans were cancelled. Therefore, instead, the VGF used former "P-type" trams on this line that could serve both, subway and tram lines. Since April 2016 the stations in the street running part on "Eckenheimer Landstraße" are being conversed in to high-level platforms to fit the new "U5-25/U5-50-type" subway cars. == Ebbelwei-Expreß ==

This special line was started in 1977 on the occasion of the forthcoming decommission of the last two-truck trams and should have actually operated only for a short time. Owing to its enormous success, it remains in service to the present day. == Fleet ==

(middle) • "K-type": 1949 – 1977 (several cars; in use as "Ebbelwei-Express" and departmental vehicles) • "L-type": 1955 – 1983 (two motor cars and two trailer cars remaining; one of each as historic streetcar) • "M-type": 1957 – 1998 (one motor car and two trailers remaining as historic streetcar) • "N-type": 1963 – 2004 (one remaining as historic streetcar) • "O-type": 1969 – 2005 (two remaining; one of them as historic streetcar) • "P-type": 1972 – 2016 (decommissioned, 3 cars will remain as historic streetcar) • "R-type": 1993 – present (direct articulation design) • "S-type": 2003 – present (suspended articulation design) • "T-Type": 2022 – present (suspended articulation design) == Frankfurt Transport Museum ==

The Frankfurt Transport Museum in Schwanheim shows the eventful history of Frankfurt's public transit. At least one of each type of streetcar (except types "E" and "G" and the ones that are still in operation) is preserved. In addition to that there is a small bus exhibition, showing two historic diesel buses and one trolleybus from Offenbach. The "Historische Straßenbahn Frankfurt e.V." (Historic tramway organization) runs the museum on behalf of the Transport Company "VGF" and organizes shuttle services with old streetcars on special occasions. ==See also==