photo(s) (GER) Freiburg (Breisgau) Light Rail

[NJT]

Good evening,

one week ago, I headed for Freiburg im Breisgau, a beautiful town in south-eastern Germany with some quite interesting - well, they claim to have a light rail system, but it is actually more like any conventional German tram.

 

 

 

For a start, this is the Freiburg tram network. I made this map myself, click on it for a larger PDF version of it.

 

I started off at Runzmattenweg, where lines 3 (to Haid) and 1 (to Landwasser) diverge by a (meter-gauge) flyover. Sadly, the weather was awful.

 

 

This is the second-to-oldest tram generation currently in operation, the GT8N. It was delivered with a small low-floor section in the middle of the unit.

 

 

Another inbound 3 train; this car type, the GT8Z is the successor of the GT8N. It is currently the only bidirectional vehicle in Freiburg, which is why the 2 line is solely operated with GT8Z (neither Dorfstraße nor Reutebachgasse have a turning loop). This vehicle is mostly low-floor.

 

 

Line 1 continues north to Landwasser (the fat names on the map are the ones actually shown on the trams, the thin ones are the actual name of the stop - a tram to Landwasser will for example terminate at Moosweiher). It is mostly operated by the GT8Z's successor, the Siemens Combino. Freiburg has two versions of the Combino, both adapted for Freiburg - for example, an extra box for displaying the line was added (this is what this car type looks like without the extra box). Shown here is the older version, the Combino Basic approaching Moosgrund.

 

 

Trams - especially Combinos - without advertising are rare in Freiburg. This is now the younger brother of the Combino Basic, the Combino Advanced - again with an extra box for the line display. This unit will shortly arrive at Moosweiher, the western terminus of line 1...

 

 

...whereas this car is heading back for the city.

 

Short excursion away from the tram system:

 

 

Regional bus owned by the German federal railways, also at Moosweiher

 

 

A few minutes' walk away from the terminus: the Freiburg-West railway stop. The line was originally about to be abandoned several years ago by the federal railways, but the local transit authority (VAG, also operating the light rail network and urban busses) united with another small railway company owned by the state to operate the Freiburg – Breisach railway line under the "Breisgau-S-Bahn" concept. Apart from not being electrified (but this is due to change in the next couple of years), this system is similar to other smaller S-Bahn networks (high-frequency and high-capacity suburban railway networks) in Germany - well, this station is definitively not the average

 

 

But back again to the light rail network. One more GT8N in downtown Freiburg between Bertoldsbrunnen and Stadttheater. Hornusstraße, by the way, is the only destination displayed "correctly" (i.e. with the name of the stop, not of the neighborhood).

 

 

Bertoldsbrunnen is the main transfer stop right in the center of Freiburg. All light rail lines meet here.

 

 

Its not ad-free, but at least it is red. Could somebody please invent an ad-blocker for trams? This Combino is stopping at the Littenweiler-/Johanneskirche-bound stop at Bertoldsbrunnen.

 

 

Here, at Holzmarkt you can see an interesting solution for making a stop accessible without having to build an own platform for the stop. To be honest, I have no idea whether this solution is also used by any American system. In Europe, some towns like Freiburg simply raise the street, others - especially Vienna - lower the tracks to create an accessible stop. And this GT8N even has one accessible door in the middle (the low-floor section).

 

 

This is one of the newer sections of the Freiburg light rail network at Haslach Bad. It not only replaced a busy bus line, but also created a second way to access the VAG's maintenance and storage facility at VAG-Zentrum.

 

 

This is yet another view of the Haslach light rail section - and yet another GT8Z with colorful ads for the local integrated transit system.

 

 

Another GT8N in front of the foggy outskirts of the Black Forest (again #222 with the broken light...)

 

 

Now I am done with Haslach, I promise But here you can spot the GT8N's low-floor section very well.

 

 

Now for one more bus: a Mercedes Citaro at Munzinger Straße, the terminus of line 3 in Haid. As the VAG mostly only uses busses as a connecting service for the light rail network, there are few bus lines in the city center, and most light rail terminuses are designed to enable passengers to easily transfer to connecting bus services.

 

 

Line 3 is operated with almost all car types Freiburg has to offer. This Combino has just left Munzinger Straße and heads for Am Lindenwäldle, where passengers will have a direct connection to the inbound 5 train via Haslach.

 

 

Finally, the reason for going to Freiburg: As Combino #281 approaches the VAG-Zentrum stop, this GT8K - one of the oldest cars still in regular service, built in 1982 - approaches Munzinger Straße. The GT8K are basically like the GT8N sans the low-floor section. They were actually supposed to be retired by now, but they will probably stay in service (likewise the GT8N) until at least 2015, as the VAG needs them since the GT8Z are currently undergoing a refurbishment program - and new cars will not arrive until 2015.

 

 

Vauban is a newly-built district in the south of Freiburg. It was designed to be car-free, but this concept was only applied to the northern halve of the neighborhood (to the right, obviously ). Again #281 having just left Innsbrucker Straße, the Vauban terminus of line 3, and approaching Vauban Mitte.

 

 

As #281 stops at Vauban Mitte, this GT8K will shortly reach its terminus.

 

 

Those blue boards look awful.

 

 

Same setting as in the first Vauban pic, only with a GT8K in place of the Combino

 

 

To compare: One more GT8N at Reiterstraße, where 5 and 3 share tracks.

 

 

The headlight is still broken as #222 is turning at Bollerstaudenstraße in Rieselfeld. Sun? What is that?

 

 

Two more evening impressions: A GT8Z at Dorfstraße, the terminus of the short interurban section of line 2 to Günterstal (no turning loop here, hence the GT8Z)

 

 

No light rail here - this is the IC Bus to Munich, operated by the German Railways in order to compete with the newly liberalized inter-city bus market in Germany. The photo was taken at Freiburg Hauptbahnhof (main station).

 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of this lovely town :-)

Regards,

Dennis

[Cyberider]

Gorgeous photos, landscape, and equipment.  Thanks for all the good information too!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Das ist sehr güt!!

[Interested Rider]

Thank you for enlightening us with pictures and text of the tram system in Germany. 

 

Keep up the good work as it is appreciated by all.

[NJT]

Thanks for your feedback! Looking forward to posting some more pictures from Augsburg next week