Cologne

Tramscape Tramway Photographs

Koln - Germany


Cologne was one of the pioneers of underground tramways in post-war Germany, with most central city lines now under the surface. The "Ring" of boulevards around the core of the city were among the first to be tunneled under, but trams still rise to the surface at Zulpicher Platz (seen above in 2001)	The east-west line through the city remained on the surface, and will most probably remain so. With low-floor technology now widespread, Cologne went to Bombardier for just such trams for this route, seen above at Neumarkt in 2001. Platforms have been built at an appropriate height on this line.	The mix of high-floor Stadtbahn and low-floor tram has left Cologne with awkward decisions about its network, which is becoming increasingly segregated into two systems. Continued delivery of cars from Bombardier for both has now led to the withdrawal of all the traditional Duwag-built cars, seen above in 2001.

In the 1970s, Koln was the pioneer in the development and purchase of the Stadtbahn-B car and set about introducing high-level platforms on its extensive tramway system with the ultimate aim of converting the network to something resembling a full metro. Tunnel building began in earnest and trams virtually disappeared from the city centre's streets, but the scale of the task was so great that it became clear that traditional tram alignments would dominate much of the network for a much longer time than expected. Several series of Stadtbahn-B cars were delivered, and the design incorporated retractable steps to allow the cars to call at street level platforms. By the late 1990s, the number of sets delivered was still insufficient to replace all of Koln's traditional 8-axle trams, with the result that high level platforms could not be installed on many routes, including all the city centre underground stations.

Not only the 8-axle trams, but also the first generation Stadtbahn-B cars were by this time coming to the end of their life. Despite the numerous improvements made to the Stadtbahn-B design over the years, the cost of new vehicles in comparison with a completely new design made a decision on a new type of car a matter of urgency. It was clear that Koln had no choice other than to specify a vehicle suitable for calling at both high level and street level platforms. Duwag / Siemens, Koln's traditional supplier, were charged with developing a new prototype.

The slow rate of progress in building a totally high-level platform network and the rapid development of "low-floor" tram technology left Koln facing for the long-term a transitional network whilst unable to make use of the new technologies. Trams with "low" floors could be used for street running, and the cost of providing the lower platforms needed for level access to these trams would be much less than the high-floor solution. It was found that the tram routes feeding into the surface level Heumarkt-Neumarkt route across the city centre could be grouped into a discrete network of routes, and developed independently using "low floor" trams which were duly ordered from Bombardier.

The "low-floor" network was established primarily out of routes running east to west and these were upgraded relatively quickly to provide a modern, high quality service, whilst slower progress was made on the conversion of the other routes in the network. New Stadtbahn cars were eventually ordered from Bombardier, whose "low floor trams" had proved highly successful, for delivery in 2002, to allow the last of the Duwag 8-axle trams to be withdrawn.

Click on the years below to see the thumbnails
Click here to see the Cologne Tramway Photograph Catalogue

Photographs by Year

1983
1988
2000
2001

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