German Trams 12
independent transport videos welcome
you to this, the 12th programme in our German Trams DVD series. In this programme we cover five tramway
systems; Heidelberg, Frankfurt am Main, Mainz, Bonn and Köln. All but Bonn have been visited before on previous
programmes, so this is an opportunity to update the scene, as this programme
was filmed in July 2019. The trams in Heidelberg are operated by RNV (Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr
GmbH) who also operate the trams in Mannheim and Ludwigshafen. A common livery of white, orange and dark
blue is being introduced across the system.
Some older Heidelberg Duewag trams are seen in their former white and
pale blue livery. The rolling stock of
the system is made up of various types of Duewag and Bombardier RNV6 and RNV8
Variobahn trams.
We
begin in Heidelberg
at the busy tram interchange at Bismarckplatz.
Our cameras then travel to Hans-Thoma-Platz on board former Mannheim
Bombardier RNV6 Variobahn 5761, returning to Bismarckplatz on similar,
but
former OEG 4129. Frankfurt am Main is
our next location. The trams are
operated by VGF (VerkehrsGesellschaft Frankfurt am Main) and the fleet
consists
of Duewag R types and Bombardier Flexity Swift trams. Filming
begins at the busy Hauptbahnhof tram
stop. We take tram rides to
Willy-Brandt-Platz, Schweizer/Gartenstraße, Schwanthalerstraße and
Lokalbahnhof. On our return to the Hauptbahnhof look out
for 1977 built Duewag Pt trams, 128, 138 and 720, 727 in both the
current
aquamarine livery and the former orange, cream and brown colours!
Mainz is our next location where the trams
are operated by MVG (Mainzer Verkehrsgesellschaft). This small
system operates a mix of Duewag,
Adtranz/AEG and Stadler Variobahn trams.
Unfortunately at the time of our visit, major track replacement was
being undertaken at the Hauptbahnhof meaning that only half the system
was
operational with buses replacing trams on the other half. We
commence filming at the Hauptbahnhof and
then we take tram rides on Bombardier Flexity Classic, 202, 234 and 249
to
Finthen (Romerquelle), Wilhelm-Raabe-Straße and Bismarckplatz with a
return to
the Hauptbahnhof. Some tram replacement
buses are filmed at Schillerplatz and Schillerstraße. Bonn is our
fourth location on this
programme. Here the trams are operated
by SWB (Stadtwerke Bonn GmbH)/SSB. The fleet
is made up of Duewag type R1.1 which are low-floor trams and Duewag B
type
high-floor light rail trams that operate on both street and light rail
–
railway alignment routes, lines 16 & 18 operate through to
Köln. Stops in the town consist of central
platforms with both high and low profiles catering for both types of
tramway
operation. Filming begins at the busy Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz
stop. Our cameras take rides on the
Duewag low-floor trams to Bonn Hauptbahnhof, Ramersdorf, Beuel Bahnhof,
Beuel
Rathaus and Stadthaus. Filming concludes
along the busy Oxfordstraße.
Our final
destination on this DVD programme is Köln.
Here the trams are operated by KVB (Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG). Like Bonn the fleet is made up of both
low-floor and high-floor trams and as mentioned above high-floor trams on lines
16 & 18 operate to Bonn. The
low-floor fleet is made up of Bombardier Flexity Swift trams, the high-floor fleet
are Duewag and Bombardier K5000 Flexity Swift trams. Our filming commences at the main line DB
Hauptbahnhof before going underground to see a high-floor Flexity Swift
arriving at Breslauer Platz platform.
Filming continues at the busy Neumarkt tram stop as well as Hahnenstraße
and Rudolfplatz. On the day of filming
in Köln the temperature was 40 degrees centigrade so we see tram drivers having
bottles of water passed to them. We
conclude our filming at Neumarkt with a fine view of maintenance car 6405 a
1966 Duewag formed from cars 3865a and 3869a and is known as the ‘Alte Lady’
(Old Lady).